TEN  GREAT  RELIGIONS. 

PART   11. 

A  COMPARISON  OF  ALL  RELIGIONS. 

BY  / 

JAMES   FREEMAN   CLARKE. 


He  who  only  knows  one  religion  can  no  more  understand  that  religion  than  he  who 
only  knows  one  language  can  understand  t/iat  language. 

Ttloe.     Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.,  p.  421. 


BOSTON: 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY. 

New  York  :   11  East  Seventeenth  Street. 

(ar?)e  fiitoersibe  prcsa,  CamtriDflC. 

1883. 


Copyright,  1883, 
By  JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge : 
Electrotypcd  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  and  Company. 


To 
J.  PETER  LESLEY  and  SUSAN  L  LESLEY, 

IN   MEMORY  OF 
MANY  HOURS  OF  HAPPY  INTERCOURSE, 

(STfeis  *Soofi 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


■  t-C.  NOV  1883  ^ 


PEEFACE. 


The  first  part  of  "Ten  Great  Religions"  was 
published  in  1871.  The  success  it  has  met  with 
is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  contains  in  a 
compendium  an  account  of  the  principal  religions 
of  the  world,  sufficiently  full  for  the  wants  of 
those  who  are  not  special  students  of  this  subject. 
There  exist  many  works  on  the  separate  religions, 
much  more  thorough,  and  which  enter  into  a 
greater  detail.  But  I  suppose  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult, even  now,  to  find  the  chief  facts  in  relation 
to  all  of  them  brought  together  elsewhere  in  a 
sing^le  volume. 

The  present  work  (based  on  twelve  lectures 
given  in  the  Lowell  Institute  in  the  winter  of 
1881-2)  is  on  a  different  plan.  Instead  of  de- 
scribing and  discussing  each  of  the  great  faiths  of 
mankind  separately,  it  attempts  to  show  what 
they  all  teach  on  the  different  points  of  human 
belief.     We   ask  what  each   declares   concerning 


VI  PREFACE. 

God,  the  Soul,  the  Future  Life,  Sin  and  Salvation, 
Human  Duty,  Prayer  and  Worship,  Inspiration 
and  Art.  We  consider  what  is  the  Idea  of  God 
in  all  religions,  and  ask  how  it  began  and  in  what 
way  it  was  developed.  In  the  same  manner  we 
seek  to  trace  other  phases  of  the  religious  life, 
from  their  simplest  beginnings  to  their  fullest 
outcome. 

In  pursuing  this  course  of  thought  I  have  been 
often  called  upon  to  discuss  the  religions  of  the 
primitive  or  childlike  races,  a  department  of  the 
subject  not  treated  in  the  first  volume.  The  im- 
portance and  value  of  researches  in  this  direction 
have  of  late  years  been  more  fully  recognized 
than  formerly.  "  The  time  has  long  since  passed," 
says  Brinton,^  "  at  least  among  thinking  men, 
when  the  religious  legends  of  the  lower  races 
were  looked  upon  as  trivial  fables,  or  as  the  in- 
ventions of  the  Father  of  Lies.  They  are  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other.  They  express,  in  image 
and  incident,  the  opinions  of  these  races  on  the 
mightiest  topics  of  human  thought,  on  the  origin 
and  destiny  of  man,  his  motives  for  duty  and  his 
grounds  for  hope,  and  the  source,  history,  and 
fate  of  external  nature.  Certainly  the  sincere 
expressions  on  this  subject  of  even  humble  mem- 

*  American  Ilero-Mijtls,  by  David  G.  Brinton,  1882. 


PEEFACE.  VU 

bers  of  the  human  race  deserve  our  most  respect- 
ful heed,  and  it  may  be  that  we  shall  discover  in 
their  crude  or  coarse  narratives  gleams  of  a  men- 
tal light  which  their  proud  Aryan  brethren  have 
been  long  in  coming  to,  or  have  not  yet  reached." 

This  class  of  primitive  or  childlike  religions  I 
have  called  Tribal,  because  they  are  usually  de- 
veloped by  each  tribe,  and  have  not  the  charac- 
ters of  Ethnic  or  National  relio^ions,  nor  of  Catho- 
lie  or  Universal  religions.  They  show  the  first 
dawnings  of  the  religious  life  with  a  singular  uni- 
formity, whether  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  among 
the  islands  of  Polynesia,  or  within  the  Arctic 
Zone.  The  special  race  developments  have  not 
yet  begun,  and  these  primitive  sentiments  have 
not  been  differentiated  under  the  formative  influ- 
ences of  national  life.  As  yet  human  nature  is  in 
its  cradle,  and  the  cry  of  the  infant  is  the  same 
all  over  the  world.  All  this  indicates  that  the 
law  applies  to  religion  which  we  find  elsewhere, 
and  that  here  too  the  progress  of  the  race  will  be 
from  monotony,  through  variety,  to  ^,n  ultimate 
harmony. 

The  present  volume  contains,  as  far  as  I  know, 
the  first  attempt  to  trace  these  doctrines  through 
all  the  principal  religions  of  mankind.  It  is  only 
an  attempt,  but  it  indicates  at  least,  what  I  be- 


Vm  PREFACE. 

lieve  to  be  the  best  way  of  understanding  the 
value  of  any  behef,  that  of  comparative  theol- 
ogy. How  much  light  has  been  thrown  on  human 
culture  by  the  works  of  Tylor,  Lubbock,  Waitz, 
Brinton,  Bastian,  Lecky,  and  others  who  have 
adopted  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  methods  of 
comparison ! 

I  cannot  expect  that  the  views  taken  in  this 
book  in  regard  to  different  religions  will  be  uni- 
versally accepted.  Most  of  the  questions  treated 
in  it  are  still  subjects  for  inquiry,  and  specialists 
differ  amono;  themselves  on  some  of  the  most 
essential  points.  Was  the  system  of  Zoroaster 
fundamentally  a  monotheism  ?  Haug  says  it  was ; 
Lenormant  and  others  tell  us,  that  though  on  his 
way  to  this  conception,  he  did  not  reach  it.  Was 
Buddhism  a  reaction  against  Brahmanism,  as 
most  writers  suppose  ?  Or  was  it  a  development 
of  Brahmanism,  as  Oldenberg  and  Kuenen  tell  us  ? 
Probably  it  was  both.  If  it  did  not  seek  to  abol- 
ish castes  in  India,  it  ignored  them,  and  admitted 
men  of  all  castes  to  its  order.  If  it  did  not  re- 
ject the  Gods  of  the  Hindu  Pantheon,  it  passed 
them  by.  It  developed  an  entirely  new  side  of 
life.  It  taught  humanity  instead  of  piety ;  it 
ascribed  salvation,  not  to  sacrifices  and  sacra- 
ments, but  to  the  sight  of  the  truth.     I  therefore 


PREFACE.  IX 

think  I  was  right,  when  in  the  First  Part  of  this 
work,  I  called  Buddhism  the  Protestantism  of  the 
East. 

In  Chapter  VI.  I  have  suggested  that  there 
may  be  essential  truth  in  the  doctrine  of  Trans- 
migration, once  so  generally  believed.  The  mod- 
ern doctrine  of  the  evolution  of  bodily  organisms 
is  not  complete,  unless  we  unite  with  it  the  idea  of 
a  corresponding  evolution  of  the  spiritual  monad, 
from  which  every  organic  form  derives  its  unity.' 
Evolution  has  a  satisfactory  meaning  only  when 
we  admit  that  the  soul  is  developed  and  educated 
by  passing  through  many  bodies,  and  not  only 
accept  the  theory  that  our  ancestors  may  have 
been  apes  or  fishes,  but  the  larger  doctrine  that 
we  ourselves  were  probably  once  apes  or  fishes, 
and  that  we  learned  much  in  those  conditions 
which  is  useful  to  us  in  our  present  forms. 

I  have  added  a  list  of  some  of  the  principal 
books  on  the  subjects  here  treated,  which  have 
been  published  since  the  index  of  authors  was 
prepared  for  the  first  part  of  this  work. 

This  list  begins  with  recent  works  on  Buddhism. 
Then  follow  those  on  the  Parsis  and  the  Zend- 
Avesta  ;  next  a  few  titles  on  Brahmanism ;  then 
on  the  Religions  of  Assyria  and  Babylon.  The 
list  ends  with  titles  of  books  lately  issued  on  Prim- 


X  PREFACE. 

itive  Religions,  the  Beliefs  of  China,  the  origin 
and  growth  of  all  Religions,  and  works  bearing  on 
the  general  subject. 

In  selecting  the  titles  on  Assyria  I  have  had  the 
assistance  of  Professor  David  G.  Lyon  of  Harvard 
College  ;  and  in  regard  to  Buddhism,  I  have  been 
aided  by  Charles  R.  Lanman,  Professor  of  Sanskrit 
in  the  same  university.  I  have  not  attempted  to 
make  any  exhaustive  list  of  references,  but  merely 
to  indicate  for  young  students,  not  specialists, 
some  of  the  more  important  sources  of  informa- 
tion. 

Buddha,  Sein  Leben,  Seine  Lehre,  Seiue  Gemeinde,  von  Dr. 

Hermann  Oldenberg,     Berlin,  1881. 
Buddlia,  his  Life,   his  Doctrine,  his  Order.     (The  same  work 

translated  by  William  Hoey),  1882. 
Die  Therai^eutae  und  ihre  Stellung.     By  P.  E.  Lucius.     Stras- 

burg,  1880. 
Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion,  as  illustrated 

by  some  points  in  the  History  of  Indian  Buddhism.     By  J. 

W.  Rhys  Davids.     Being  the  Hibbert  lectures,  1881. 
The  Buddhist  Scriptures  in  Prdi.    The  Viuaya  Pitakam.     Ed- 
ited by  Dr.  II.  Oldenberg.     Five  vols. 
The  Angel-Messiah  of  Buddhists,  Essenes  and  Christians.     By 

Ernest  de  Bunsen.     (London,  1880). 

[This  book  is  largely  quoted  by  those  who  would  derive  the 
facts  in  the  Gospels  from  the  Buddhist  legends.  Its  value  in 
the  eyes  of  a  real  scholar  appears  iu  the  following  extract  from 
Kuenen's  Hibbert  Lectures :  — 


PEEFACE.  XI 

"  The  well-known  volume  on  '  The  Augel-Messiah,  etc.,'  no 
doubt  teems  with  parallels  of  every  description ;  but,  alas !  it 
is  one  unbroken  commentary  on  Scaliger's  thesis  that  errors 
in  theology  all  arise  from  neglect  of  philology.  A  writer  who 
can  allow  himself  to  bring  the  name  Pharisee  into  connection 
with  Persia,  has  once  for  all  forfeited  his  right  to  a  voice  in  the 
matter.  The  very  title  of  the  book  should  preserve  us  from 
any  illusion  as  to  its  contents.  The  'Angel-Messiah '  of  the  Bud- 
dhists, who  know  nothing  either  of  angels  or  of  a  Messiah !  — 
and  of  the  Essenes,  of  whose  Messianic  expectations  we  know 
absolutely  nothing !  By  such  comparisons  we  could  prove  any- 
thing."] 

The    Dipavamsa.      In   the    Pali   language.      Edited   with   an 
English  translation,  by  Dr.  H.  Oldenberg. 
[This   is  the  most  ancient  historical  work   of   the  Ceylon- 
ese.     It  gives  an  account  of  the  conversion  of  Ceylon  to  Bud- 
dhism.] 

The  Milinda  Panha.  Dialogues  between  King  Milinda  and 
the  Buddhist  Sage  Nagasena.  Ptdi  text  edited  by  Trenck- 
ner  of  Copenhagen. 
Das  Evangelium  von  Jesu  in  seinen  verhaltnissen  zu  Buddha- 
saga  und  Buddha-lehre,  von  Prof.  Rudolf  Seydel.  Leip- 
zig, 1882. 

[Kuenen,  (Hibbert  Lectures,  Note,  page  334)  says  that  Prof. 
Seydel  divides  the  parallels  between  Buddhism  and  Chris- 
tianity into  three  classes.  The  first  class  contains  those  which 
are  purely  accidental.  The  second  class  consists  of  those  which 
show  some  dependence  of  one  of  the  religions  on  the  other. 
The  third  are  of  those  which  Prof.  Seydel  thinks  show  decid- 
edly an  influence  of  Buddhism  on  the  origin  of  the  Gospels. 
These  last  are  five,  and  we  can  see  by  their  weight,  whether 
those  of  the  second  class  are  worth  considering.     The  resem- 


XII  PREFACE. 

blances  to  which  Sejdel  ascribes  the  highest  degree  of  eviden- 
tial value  are  — 

1.  The  fast  of  Jesus  before  his  temptation  was  borrowed,  he 
believes,  from  a  similar  fast  ascribed  to  Buddha.  The  oldest 
tradition  (Oldenberg,  page  114  Eng.  ed.)  is  in  the  Mahavagga, 
and  says  that  Buddha  fasted  seven  days,  and  then  went  to  the 
fig  tree.  Later  traditions  make  it  twenty-eight  days.  Now  as 
fasting  was  a  religious  act  in  all  systems,  there  is  no  necessity 
of  supposing  one  of  them  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the 
other.  And  if  the  fast  of  Jesus  is  legendary,  why  not  rather 
suppose  it  borrowed  from  the  forty  days'  fast  of  Moses  (Exo- 
dus xxxiv.  28)  than  the  seven  days'  or  twenty-eight  days'  fast 
of  Buddha. 

2.  The  next  incident  which  Seydel  thinks  must  have  been 
borrowed  from  Buddhism  is  the  question  "  Did  this  man  sin 
or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  "  (.John  ix.  2)  which 
Seydel  thinks  unmeaning,  unless  explained  by  the  Buddhist 
doctrine  of  re-birth.  On  this  Kuenen  says  that  "  nothing  can 
be  more  obvious  than  to  refer  this  to  the  Jewish- Alexandrian 
doctrine  of  preexistence,  which  renders  the  Buddhist  parallel 
quite  superfluous." 

3.  The  preexistence  ascribed  both  to  Buddha  and  to  Christ, 
though  one  of  Seydel's  five  strongest  points,  he  does  not  him- 
self regard  as  conclusive. 

4.  The  presentation  in  the  temple  (Luke  ii.  22). 

5.  The  sitting  under  a  fig  tree  (John  i.  46). 

Of  these  last  Kuenen  says  that  "  the  difference  seems  to  me 
quite  to  overbalance  the  resemblance.  There  is  no  parallel 
between  the  simple  scene  in  the  temjile  and  the  homage  ren- 
dered to  the  Buddha-child."  And  in  John  i.  it  is  not  Christ 
but  Nathaniel  who  sits  under  the  fig  tree,  as  the  Buddha  him- 
self sat  under  the  tree  of  knowledge.     To  sit  under  the  shade 


PEEFACE.  XUl 

of  a  tree  is  not  such  an  extraordinary  event  as  to  make  it  neces- 
sary to  believe  it  borrowed  from  one  which  happened  in  a  far 
ofE  land,  five  centuries  before.  Yet  these  five  cases  are  the 
strongest  that  Prof.  Seydel,  after  the  most  careful  research, 
can  find  as  proving  that  facts  in  the  gospel  were  borrowed 
from  Buddhism.] 

Der  Buddhismus  und  seine  Geschichte  in  Indien.    By  Heinrich 
Kern,     (Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  H.  Jacobi.)     Leip- 
zig, 1882. 
Der  Buddhismus  in.seinen  Psychol ogie.     Mit  einer  Karte  des 

buddhistischen  Weltsystems.     By  A.  Bastian,     1882. 
The  Dhammapada.     Being  one  of  the  Canonical  Books  of  the 
Buddhists.     Translated  into  English  from  Pali.    By  F.  Max 
Muller.     1881. 
The  Sutta-Nipata.     One  of  the  Canonical  Books  of  the  Bud- 
dhists.    Translated  from  the  Pidi.     By  V.  Fansboll.     1881. 
[These  two  translations  are  contained  in  vol.  x.  of  the  series 
called  "  The  Sacred  Books  of  the  East "  —  an  admirable  work, 
edited  by  Max  Muller,  and  published  at  Oxford. 

Of  the  Dhammapada  Muller  says,  "  I  cannot  see  any  reason 
why  we  should  not  treat  the  verses  of  the  Dhammapada,  if  not 
as  the  utterances  of  Buddha,  at  least  as  what  were  believed  by 
the  members  of  the  council  under  Asoka,  242  B.  c,  to  have 
been  the  utterances  of  the  founder  of  their  religion." 

Of  the  Sutta-Nipata  the  translator  says,  "  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  contains  some  remnants  of  Primitive  Buddhism. 
I  consider  the  greater  part  of  the  Mahagga,  and  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  Attha-Kavogga,  as  very  old."] 

Buddhist  Suttas.  Translated  from  Pali  by  T.  TV.  Rhys 
Davids,  1881.     Vol.  xi.  of  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East." 

[This  volume  contains  seven  Suttas,  which  Mr.  Rhys  Davids 
considers  to  come  to  us  from  the  third  or  fourth  century  before 


XIV  PREFACE. 

Christ.  They  are  quite  interesting,  and  give  a  good  idea  of 
primitive  Buddhism.  Mr.  Davids  finds  some  points  of  resem- 
blance between  this  literature  and  that  of  the  New  Testament ; 
but  agrees  with  Kuenen,  in  denying  the  latter  to  be  in  any  way 
derived  from  the  former.^] 

A  Catena  of  Buddhist  Scriptures  from  the  Chinese.     By  Sam- 
uel Beal.     London,  1871. 
The  Romantic  Legend  of  Buddha.     By  Samuel  Beal.     1875. 

[Mr.  Beal  has  given  us  in  these  books  much  light  on  Bud- 
dhism in  China  —  though  a  great  deal  more  remains  to  be  done. 
He  informs  us  that  the  Buddhist  Canon  in  Chinese  consists  of 
1,440  distinct  works,  comprising  5,586  books.  The  monasteries 
in  China  contain  a  vast  number  of  works  which  have  never 
been  collated  by  European  scholars.  As  far  back  as  the  first 
century  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  while  Christian  missionaries 
were  going  West  to  convert  Europe,  Buddhist  missionaries 
went  East  as  far  as  China.] 
The  Wheel  of  the  Law.     Buddhism  illustrated  from  Siamese 

Sources.     By  Henry  Alabaster,  1871. 
Buddhagosha's  Parables.      Translated  from  the  Burmese,  by 

Captain  H.  T.  Rogers,  1870. 
Buddhist  Birth-Stories.      Edited  by  Fausboll.     Translated  by 

Rhys  Lavids. 
Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism.     By  Arthur  Lillie. 

[An  interesting  book,  by  an  independent  thinker.] 
Das  Evangelium  von  Jesu  in  seinen  Verhaltnissen  zur  Buddha 

sage  und  Buddha-lehre.     By  R.  Seydel.     Leipzig,  1882. 
Lehre  der  Buddha.     Senart. 
Legend  of  the  Burmese  Buddha.    (Life  or  Legend  of  Gaudama. 

By  Bishop  Bigandet.     Rangoon,  18GG.) 
Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Religion,  with  a  paper  on  Buddhist 

^  See  Appendix. 


PREFACE.  XV 

Nihilism   and  a  translation  of  the  Dhammapada.     By  Max 
Miiller.     New  York,  Scribner,  1872. 


'•  The  Parsis."  (Article  in  the  "  Nineteenth  Century,"  March, 
1881.)  "The  Religion  of  Zoroaster."  ("Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," January,  1881.)     By  Mouier  Williams. 

Zoroaster  und  die  Religion  des  Altiranischen  Volkes.     By  Karl 
Geldner. 
[Not  yet  published,  but  sure  to  be  good.] 

The  Vendidad.  Translated  by  James  Darmesteter.  (Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  vol.  iv.) 

The  Bundahis.  Bahman  Yast,  and  Shayast  la  Shayast.  Trans- 
lated by  E.  W.  West.     (Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vol.  v.) 

The  Supreme  God  in  the  Indo-European  Mythology.  By  James 
Darmesteter.     (Contemporary  Review,  October,  1879.) 

Essays  on  the  Sacred  Language,  Writings,  and  Religion  of  the 
Parsis,  by  Martin  Haug.  (English  and  Foreign  Philosoph- 
ical Library.)     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  Boston. 

Indian  Wisdom.     By  Monier  Williams.     1875. 

Hinduism.     By  Monier  Williams.     1877. 

History  of  India  from  the  Earliest  Ages.  By  J.  Talboys 
Wheeler. 

Manual  of  Hindu  Pantheism.     (Jacob.) 

Hinduism  and  its  Relations  to  Christianity.  By  Rev.  J.  Rob- 
son. 

Der  Rig- Veda.     By  Adolf  Kaegi.     Leipzig,  1881. 
["  An  admirable  book,"  Professor  Lanman.] 

The  Religions  of  India.  By  Auguste  Barth.  (Translated  from 
the  valuable  "  Encyclopedic  des  Sciences  religieuses,  Paris," 
by  Wood,  London,  1882.) 


XVI  PEEFACE. 

The  Upanishads.     Translated  by  Max  Miiller.  (Sacred  Books 

of  the  East,  vol.  i.) 
The  Sacred  Laws  of  the  Aryas.     Translated  by  George  Buhler. 

(Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vols.  ii.  and  xiv.) 
The  Institutes  of  Vishnu.     Translated  by  Prof.  Julius  Jolly. 

(Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vol.  vii.) 
The   Bhagavadgita,  etc.      (Sacred   Books   of    the   East,   vol. 

viii. ) 


A  Manual  of  the  Ancient  History  of  the  East.     By  F.  Lenor- 

mant  and  E.  Chevallier.     London,  1879. 
Histoire  Comparee  des  anciennes  Religions  de  1'  Egypte  et    des 

Peuples  Semitiques.     Par  C.  P.  Tiele.     Paris,  1882. 
The  Chaldaean  Account  of  Genesis.     By  Geo.  Smith.      (New 

edition  by  A.  H.  Sayce,  1882.) 
The  Records  of  the  Past.     (Vols.  1,  3,  5,  7,  9,  11.) 

[These  contain  numerous  translations  (one  of  which  is  given 
in  the  Appendix).     Prof.  Lyon,  of  Harvard  University,  informs 
me  that  though  these  contain  mistakes,  yet  they  have  enough  of 
accuracy  to  give  a  good  general  view  of  the  literature.] 
Babylonian  Literature.     By  A.  H.  Sayce. 
On  the  Religion  of  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians.     By  Sir 

H.    C.    Rawlinson,   in    George    Rawlinson's    "  Herodotus," 

vol.  i. 
Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament.    Von  E,  Schrader. 

Giessen,  1883. 
Wo  lag  das   Paradies  ?     Von    Friedrich  Delitzsch.     Leipzig, 

1881. 
Avesta,  Livre  sacre  du  Zoroasterisme  traduit  du  Texte  Zend, 

par  C.  D.  Harlez.    (Bibliotheque  Orientale,  vol.  v.)     Second 

edition.     Paris,  1881. 


PREFACE.  XVll 

Origin  of  Primitive  Superstitious,  etc.,  among  the  Aborigines 
of  America.     By  Rushton  M.  Dorman.     Philadelphia,  1881. 

The  Vicissitudes  of  Aryan  Civilization  in  India.  Kunte.  Bom- 
bay, 1880. 

The  Origin  and  Development  of  Religious  Belief.     By  T.  Bar- 
ing Gould.     1870. 
[The  merit  of  this  work  is  that  it  is  an  honest  attempt  on  the 

part  of  a  High  Churchman  to  see  and  accept  all  the  facts  of 

science  and   human  experience,  without  flinching.     Its  defect 

appears  to  be  that  it  does  not  succeed  in  reducing  these  facts  to 

unity.] 

Die  Religion,  ihr  "Wesen,  und  ihre  Geschichte.  By  O.  Pfleid- 
erer.     Leipzig,  1869. 

The  origin  of  Religion  considered  in  the  light  of  the  Unity  of 
Nature.  By  the  Duke  of  Argyll.  (Papers  published  in  the 
Contemporary  Review.) 

Man's  Origin  and  Destiny  sketched  from  the  platform  of  the 
Physical  Sciences.     By  Prof.  J.  Peter  Lesley.     Second  edi- 
tion, enlarged.     1881. 
[A  work  full  of  information  and  suggestion.] 

Pre-historic  Times  and  Origin  of  Civilization.  By  Sir  John 
Lubbock. 

Auti-theistic  Theories.     By  Prof.  Flint. 

From  Whence,  What,  Where  ?     By  James  R.  Nichols.     1882. 

Finalite.     Par  Paul  Janet.     Paris. 

Outlines  of  Primitive  Belief  among  the  Indo-European  Races. 
By  Charles  Francis  Keary,  of  the  British  Museum.     1882. 

Hibbert  Lectures,  1878.  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth 
of  Religion,  as  illustrated  by  the  Religions  of  India.  By  F. 
Max  Muller. 

b 


XVIU  PKEFACE. 

Hibbert  Lectures,  1879.  Lectures  on  tbe  Origin  and  Growth 
of  Religion,  as  illustrated  by  the  Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt. 
By  P.  Le  Page  Renouf. 

Hibbert  Lectures,  1880.  Influence  of  the  Institutions,  etc.,  of 
Rome  on  Christianity.     By  Ernest  Renan. 

Hibbert  Lectures,  1881.  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth 
of  Religion,  as  illustrated  by  Buddhism.  By  T.  W.  Rhys 
Davids. 

Hibbert  Lectures,  1882.  Lectures  on  National  Religions  and 
Universal  Religions.     By  A.  Kuenen, 

Brahmo  Year-Book.  Brief  Records  of  Work  and  Life  in  the 
Theistic  Churches  in  India.     1877,  1878,  1879,  1880. 

Prolegomenes  de  I'Histoire  des  Religions.     By  A.  Reville. 

The  Faiths  of  the  World.  St.  Giles'  Lectures,  Edinburgh, 
1882. 

Primitive  Culture.    By  Ed.  B.  Tylor.     2  vols.  1871. 

Researches  into  the  Early  History  of  Mankind.  By  E.  B.  Ty- 
lor.    1870. 

The  Myths  of  the  New  World. 

The  Religious  Sentiment. 

The  Maya  Chronicles. 

American  Hero  Myths. 

The  above  four  works  are  by  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  M.  D.,  of 

Philadelphia. 

The  Sim-King,  the  Shi-King,  the  HsiCio-King.  By  James  Legge. 
(Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vol.  iii.) 

The  Chinese  Classics.    The  Analects,  Great  Learning  and  Doc- 
trine of  the  Mean,  by  Confucius.    By  James  Legge.    Worces- 
ter and  Chicago. 
[See  also  a  series  of  excellent  Manuals  by  Legge,  Rhys  Davids, 

and  other  eminent  scholars,  in  a  series  publislicd  by  the   Church 


PREFACE.  XIX 

of  England  Missionary  Society,  called  "  Non-Christian  Religious 
Systems."  This  series  includes  Confucius,  Hinduism,  Islam, 
Buddhism,  etc. ;  and  does  not  include  any  narrow  or  prejudiced 
bias  against  these  religions. 

See,  also,  articles  on  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  China,  etc.,  in 
the  ninth  edition  of  the  Encyclopasdia  Brittanica.  Also,  numer- 
ous articles  of  value  in  recent  numbers  of  the  Contemporary 
Review,  Nineteenth  Century,  Fortnightly  Review  and  other 
periodicals.  Those  on  the  Religious  Prospects  of  Islam  (by 
Rev.  Malcom  Malcoll,  Prof.  Monier  "Williams,  etc.)  ;  on  Ancient 
Egypt,  by  R.  S.  Pool  (Contemporary  Review,  1881)  ;  on  the 
New  Development  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  (by  Wm.  Knighton, 
Contemporary  Review,  October,  1881,  answered  by  Sophia  D. 
Collet,  Contemporary  Review,  November,  1881),  The  Baby- 
lonian Account  of  the  Deluge  (Nineteenth  Century,  February, 
1882),  may  be  quoted  as  examples  of  the  ability  and  learning 
which  go  into  these  periodicals.] 

Oriental  Religions,  and  their  Relation  to  Universal  Reli- 
gion. By  Samuel  Johnson.  Boston  :  Houghton,  Mifflin  & 
Co. 

[In  three  volumes,  on  India,  China,  and  Persia ;  the  last  vol- 
ume not  yet  published.] 
Philosophical  Library.     Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

Vol.  IX.    Outlines  of  the  History  of  Religion.     By  C.  P. 
Tiele. 

Vol.  X.    Religion  in  China.     By  Joseph  Edkins. 

Vol.  XII.    The  Dhammapada.     Translated  from  the  Chi- 
nese by  Samuel  Beal. 

Vol.  XVI.     Selections  from  the  Koran.     By  E.  W.  Lane. 

Vol.  XVII.     Chinese  Buddhism.     By  Joseph  Edkins. 
Philosophy  of  Religion.     By  John  Caird. 


XX  PREFACE. 

The  Native  Eaces  of  the  Pacific  States.     By  Hubert  Howe 
Bancroft.  ' 

[An   important  work  of  great  extent,  and  full  of  valuable 
information.] 

In  the  Appendix  to  this  volume  will  be  found  interesting  ex- 
tracts from  some  of  the  works  above  referred  to. 


(JO^TJi^iNrt?. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION.  —  DESCRIPTION    AND    CLASSIFICATION. 

§  1.     Object  of  the  present  volume         ......     1 

§  2.     The  Science  of  Religion 4 

§  3.     Religious  Aspect  of  the  World,  b,  c.  1100.     Egypt.   India. 

Greece.     Persia.     Buddliism   ......     5 

§  4.     Definition  of  Religion         .......       15 

§  5.     Religion  is  Universal.     Exceptional  cases  examined  by  Mr. 

Tylor 17 

§  6.     Religious  statistics  of  the  World 21 

§  7.     False  Classifications  of  the  Religions  of  the  World        .         .  23 
§  8.     A  better  method  of   Classification.     Tribal,     Ethnic,   and 

Catholic  o         ........       26 

§  9.  Ethnic  religions  are  confined  to  special  races,  are  not 
founded  by  a  prophet,  are  polytheisms,  and  do  not  lay 
stress  on  morality.  Catholic  religions  spread  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  race,  are  founded  by  a  single  prophet,  are 
monotheisms,  and  inculcate  morality  .        .         .         .29 

CHAPTER  IT. 

SPECIAL    TYPES.  — VARIATIONS. 

§  1.     Every  religion  has  its  own  special  type.     Two  false  theories  33 

§  2.     Race  and  Nationality 36 

§  3.     Increased  knowledge  of  Ethnic  Religions  during  the   last 

century 39 

§  4.     Unity  and  persistence  of  type  in  each  religion    .        .         .44 


XXll  COXTE^'TS. 

§  5.  The  typical  ideas  of  Brahmaiiism,  Buddhism,  the  Zend- 
Avesta,  and  the  religion  of  Egypt        ....         51 

§  6.     Corruptions  and  degradations  of  each  religion,  forei'^n  to 

its  original  type 61 

§  7.     Affirmations  true,  negations  false 62 

§  8.  Simplistic  systems  are  short-lived.  Coordinated  antago- 
nisms necessary  for  continued  development  ,         .         64 

CHAPTER  IILtC 

ORIGIX   AXD   DEVELOPMENT   OF   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Two  ways  in  which  Religions  begin  ;  suddenly  under  the 
influence  of  a  prophet ;  or  gradually,  out  of  a  national 
tendency 70 

§2.  Religions  derived  from  previous  religions,  by  imitation  or 
reaction.  Influence  of  the  Greek  upon  the  Roman  The- 
ology ;  of  the  doctrines  of  Egypt  on  the  teaching  of  Mo- 
ses ;  of  Buddhism  on  Christianity;  of  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity on  Mohammedanism 72 

§  3.  Origin  of  all  religion.  Three  answers.  Transformed  sen- 
sations cannot  give  to  us  the  idea  of  the  Infinite     .         .     75 

§  4.  Belief  in  disembodied  spirits  the  first  form  in  which  the  re- 
ligious nature  manifests  itself 78 

§  5.     Tlie  world  of  dreams,  and  its  influence    ....        80 

§  G.     Why  do  primitive  races  fear  ghosts  ? 81 

§  7.     Demoniacal  possession  and  exorcism        ....         83 

§  8.     In  all  childlike  races  religion  is  the  same.     Animism  the 

first  step  in  religion 86 

§  9.     The  next    step   upward   gives   Polytheism.      The   Vedic 

hymns.     The  character  of  Polytheism    .         .         .         .87 

§  10.  Arrested  and  progressive  development.  The  point  of  re- 
ligious development  reached  by  Zoroaster       .         .         .90 

§  11.  When  Polytheism  degenerates  it  becomes  Idolatry.  The 
relapse  of  Brahmanism.  That  of  Egypt.  How  religions 
decay 92 

§  12.  The  I\Iexican  religion  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  was  the 
degenerate  form  of  an  anterior  IMonotheism.  Its  mix- 
ture of  pure  moral  teaching  and  terrible  superstitions      .     96 


CONTENTS.  XXIU 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   IDEA   OF   GOD   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS,    ANIMISM,  POLYTHEISM, 

PANTHEISM. 

§  1.     Analysis  of  the  Idea  of  Deity.     God  as  Creator,  Supreme 
Being,  Infinite  Being,   Providence,    Justice,    Holiness, 

Unity      . 101 

§  2.     Animism,  as  the  lowest  form  of  religious  belief.     The  Idol 

or  fetich  in  all  religions  .         .   ' 107 

§  3.     Polytheism  in  all  religions.     Origin  of  Polytheism  .        .       112 
§4.     Pantheism  in  all  religions.     Evils  of  Pantheism           .         .116 
§  5.     The  truth  in  Polytheism.     Latent  Monotheism  in  Polythe- 
ism       119 

§  6,     Truth  in  Pantheism 124 

§  7.     The  imperfect  Monotheism  of  the  Buddhists  .         .         .126 
§  8.     The  conception  of  God  the  important  matter  ;  the  name 

given  to  him  unimportant 128 

CHAPTER  V. 

IDEA   OF   GOD   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.  —  DITHEISM,  TRITHEISM,    AND 

MONOTHEISM. 

§  1.     Ditheism  in  all  Religions 130 

§  2.     The  Triads  in  all  Religions 135 

§  3.     Monotheism  in  all  Religions 141 

§  4.     Origin  of  our  belief  in  Spirit,  in  a  First  Cause,  in  an  Intel- 
ligent Creator,  in  a  Supreme  and  Infinite  Being     .         .156 
§  5.     The   Christian   idea  of  God  is  a  combination  of  the  other 

conceptions  of  Deity,  with  that  of  Infinite  Love      .         .160 

CHAPTER  VL 

THE   SOUL    AND    ITS   TRANSMIGRATIONS,    IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.     Universal  faith  in  the  independent  existence  and  survival 

of  the  human  soul.     The  belief  in  ghosts  a  proof  of  it      .  162 

§  2.     Double  souls  and  a  double  consciousness.     Is  there  any 

evidence  of  this  ?     Soul  and  Shadow      .        .        •         .165 


1/ 


XXiv  cONJrENTS. 

§3.     Does  Buddhism  deny  tlie  ^'^istence  of  the  soul?         .         .168 
§4.     The  Philosophical  basis  of^  belief  in  a  soul        .         .         .171 

§5.     The  objections  of  Materiajlism 173 

§  6.     Preexistence  and  Transmigration.     The  doctrine  of  Brah- 

manism  and  of  the  ancient  Egyptians      .         .         .         .176 
§7.     Transmigration  among  tPe  Buddhists      .         .        .         -182 

§  8.     Foundation  of  this  belief 185 

§  9.     Human  traits  in   primitive  organisms.     Chief  distinction 

between  the  human  ar^d  animal  soul     .         .         .         .187 
§  10.     The  evolution  of  the  so-^l  as  an  improvement  on  the  doc- 
trine of  Darwin 190 


ClIAPTER  VII. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE   WO'^^^)    ^^   ^^L   RELIGIONS.      EVOLUTION, 
EMANA^'ION,  AND   CREATION. 


SI 


Different  theories  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Cosmos. 
All  races  of  men  believe  it  had  a  beginning,  and  has 
not  existed  always     The  primeval  chaos         .         .         .193 

§  2.  Doctrine  of  evolutP"-  Ifs  antiquity.  The  world-egg. 
Orphic  poets.  L'^s  of  Manu.  Aristophanes.  Hesiod. 
Ovid.  America!  Indians.  Eddas.  The  Polynesian 
theology  .         .        •         »         • 196 

§  3.     Doctrine  of  Emana  'on-    Source  of  this  view.    The  Vediis. 

The  Gnostics,     ^^leir  problem 204 

§4.  Doctrine  of  Creadon-  Different  forms  of  this  doctrine. 
The  Hebrew  B'j^e,  the  Zend-Avesta,  the  Assyrian  tab- 
lets, the  philoPP^ers.  Objection  to  the  doctrine  of 
Creation  by  mo  ^rn  thinkers 209 

§5.     Darwin  and  Nati-al  Selection         .         .        .        .         .213 

§  6.  Theory  of  Creati «  by  beings  above  man,  but  below  God. 
This  theory  wr-ld  harmonize  the  doctrines  of  Evolution, 
Emanation,  ar'  Creation 217 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

/<: 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

PRAYER   AND   WORSHIP  IX   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.     Prayer  and  worship  to  invisible  powers  universal        .         .  222 

§  2.  Prayer  among  the  primitive  races.  Zulus.  North  Amer- 
ican Indians.  Races  of  Asia.  Islands  of  the  Pacific. 
The  principal  element  of  this  prayer  is  supplication  for 
outward  good 224 

§  3.  Prayer  in  Ethnic  Religions.  Adoration  the  principal  ele- 
ment in  these  j^rayers.  The  Vedic  Hymns.  China. 
The  Greeks.    Mexicans 228 

§  4.  Prayer  in  the  Catholic  Religions.  Desire  for  moral  good- 
ness now  appears.  The  Zend-Avesta.  Buddhism. 
Mohammedanism 235 

§  5.     The  universality  of  Sacrifices.     Their  origin  .         .         .       239 

§  6.  Jewish  Prayers.  The  Book  of  Psalms.  God  spoken  to  as 
a  friend.  Christian  Prayer.  No  liturgy  in  the  New 
Testament.     The  prayer  of  love     .         .         .         .         .241 

§  7.     Imprecatory  prayer  in  all  religions.     Improvement  in  the 

spirit  and  method  of  prayer    ......  244 

§  8.     Decay  of  prayer  at  the  present  time.     Divine  personality 

doubted.     The  Future  of  prayer 246 

CHAPTER  IX. 

INSPIRATION   AND   ART   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Inspiration  in  its  most  general  form 251 

§  2.  Different  Kinds  of  Inspiration 253 

§  3.  Religious  Inspiration  ........  254 

§  4.  Inspiration  of  the  Bible.     In  lower  religions.     Inspiration 

as  frenzy.     Possession  and  Self-possession  .         .         .256 

§  5.  The  Bible  compared  with  the  Vedas  and  Koran  .         .  259 

§  6.  Peculiarity  of  the  Inspiration  of  the  New  Testament      .       262 

§  7.  Art  the  child  of  Religion.     Egyptian  architecture       .         .  265 

§  8.  Buddhist  architecture 268 

§  9.  Jewish  and  Christian  architecture 271 


XXVI  CONTEXTS. 

§  10.     Mohammedan  art 272 

§  11.     Greek  art 274 

§  12.     Religion  in  painting  and  poetry 278 

CHAPTER   X.    f^ 

ETHICS    IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

The  moral  sentiment  in  man.     First  element  —  the  Idea 

of  Right  and  Wrong 280 

Second  element.     Knowledge  of  what  is  right  and  wrono-. 

Third  element.  Habits  of  virtue  ....  283 
The    basis    of    Ethics   immutable.      Primal   convictions. 

Truth  and  Love.     The  place  of  utility  in  ethics     .         ,  285 

Manly  and  Womanly  virtues 288 

Morality  among  primitive  races 289 

The  races  of  Africa 292 

Development  of  moral  impulse  in  character.     Romans  and 

Greeks.     Soci-ates.     The  Stoics 294 

Ethics  of  Buddhism         .......       305 

Ethics  in  ancient  Egypt.  The  oldest  book  of  the  world  .  308 
Influence  of  Religion  on  Morality  ....       314 

CHAPTER  XI. 

IDEA   OF   A    FUTURE   STATE   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Universal  belief  in  a  Future  State  of  existence  .        .         .318 

§  2.  Notions  concerning  it  among  the  childlike  races      .         .       322 

§  3.     Belief  of  the  ancient  Etruscans 324 

§  4.  Of  the  Egyptians     .         .         .         .         .         •         .         .326 

§  5.  Of  Brahmanism           ........   330 

§  6.  Of  Buddhism.     Meaning  of  Nirvana        ....       332 

§  7.  Of  the  Jews.     The  argument  of  Jesus  with  the  Sadducees  334 

§  8.  How  religion  produces  faith  in  Immortality         .         .         .  335 

§  9.  The  poets  and  philosophers     ......       336 

§  10.  Two  sources  of  belief  in  a  future  existence        .         .         .  339 

§  11.  Modern  scientific  unbelief.     Spiritualism,  and  its  eviden- 
ces ...••••..         .         .  341 


§1- 

§2. 

§3. 

§4. 

§5. 

§6. 

§7. 

§8. 

§9. 

§10, 

CONTENTS.  XXVll 


c 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   FUTURE   RELIGION   OF   MANKIND. 

§  1.     Man  a  religious  being.     His  continued  interest  in  religious 

questions  ......••••  346 

§  2.     Religious  faith  necessary  to  progress  in  science,  literature, 

and  art.     Individualism  insufficient  ....  350 

§  3.     The  essence  of  Christianity 352 

§  4.     Christianity  the  religion  of  civilized  man  .         .         .   353 

§  5.     Progress  and  power  of  Christian  nations         .         .         .       354 
§  6.     Chief  of  the  three  Catholic  Religions         .         .         .         .359 

§  7.     Its  fullness  of  life 361 

§  8.     Its  corruptions.     Their  origin  in  its  power  of  assimilation. 

Persecution.     Monasticism  .....       363 

§  9.     Will  the  basis  of  the  church  of  humanity  be  a  ritual,  a  creed, 

or  a  person  ?.........  366 

§  10.     The  personality  of  Jesus.     Examples  of  the  influence  of 

prophets  on  national  life  ......  368 

§  11.     Will  the  world  outgrow  the  teaching  of  Jesus?     Future 

prospects        .         .         . 373 


APPENDIX. 

NOTE. 

1.  The  Nirvana,  view  taken  by  Oldenberg      ....  377 

2.  Mohammedanism.     As  viewed  by  Osborn        .         .         .379 

3.  Chaldean  account  of  Creation      .         .         .         .         .         .382 

4.  Buddhism  in  Siam.     Alabaster         .....       384 

5.  Buddhism  and  Christianity.     Kuenen         ....   388 

6.  Buddhism  and  the  New  Testament.     Rhys  Davids  .       390 

7.  Lamentations  of  Isis  and  Nephthys 391 

8.  Religion  of  Zoroaster.     Vendidad    .....       395 
"   9.  Transmigration  in  Brahmanism  ......   396 

10.  Japan  and  the  Japanese.-     Baron  Hiibner       .         .         .       398 

11.  Ethics  of  Buddhism.      Spence  Hardy  ....  401 

12.  Buddhist  Ascetics  before  Christ.     From  Wilson's  "  Hindu 

Drama  ".......-.  404 


TEN   GREAT  RELIGIONS. 

SECOND   PART. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTEODUCTION. DESCRIPTION    AND     CLASSIFI- 
CATION. 

§  1.  Object  of  the  present  Volume.  §  2.  The  Science  of  Re- 
ligion. §  3.  Religious  Aspect  of  the  World  b.  c.  1100. 
Egypt.  India.  Greece.  Persia.  Buddhism.  §  4.  Definition 
of  Religion.  §  5.  Religion  is  Universal.  Exceptional  Cases 
examined  by  Mr.  Tylor.  §  6.  Religious  Statistics  of  the 
World.  §  7.  False  Classifications  of  the  Religions  of  the 
World.  §  8.  A  better  Method  of  Classification.  Tribal,  Eth- 
nic, and  Catholic.  §  9.  Ethnic  Religions  are  confined  to 
Special  Races,  are  not  founded  by  a  Prophet,  are  Polythe- 
isms, and  do  not  lay  Stress  on  Morality.  Catholic  Religions 
spread  beyond  the  Boundaries  of  Race,  are  founded  by  a 
Single  Prophet,  are  Monotheisms,  and  inculcate  Morality. 

§  1.    Object  of  the  present  volume. 

npHE    first  part  of  this   work,  published  some 
-^    years  since,  was  chiefly  analytical    and    de- 
scriptive.   It  endeavored  to  give  a  distinct  account 


2  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

of  the  character  and  history  of  the  Ten  Great  Re- 
ligions of  the  World.  The  purpose  of  the  present 
volume  is  to  compare  them  with  each  other,  in 
order  to  learn  what  each  teaches  concerning  God, 
the  Soul,  the  Origin  of  the  World,  Worship,  In- 
spiration, Right  and  Wrong,  and  the  Future  Life. 
We  shall  consider  this  important,  interesting,  but 
complex  and  difficult  subject  —  the  Comparison  of 
the  Religions  of  Mankind  —  to  see  wherein  they 
agree  and  wherein  they  differ ;  to  learn,  if  we 
may,  something  of  their  origin,  whether  from 
earth  or  heaven ;  to  see  what  measure  of  truth 
each  may  contain,  and  what  is  likely  to  be  the 
future  religious  history  of  our  race. 

Everything  becomes  more  intelligible  when  com- 
pared with  something  else  of  the  same  sort.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  "  he  who  only  understands 
one  language  does  not  understand  any  language." 
The  same  thing,  to  some  extent,  may  be  said 
about  religion.  We  cannot  look  on  any  religion 
with  indifference. 

It  is  thought  by  many,  I  know,  that  science,  in 
its  immense  activity,  large  sweep,  and  vast  de- 
mands upon  our  intelligence,  has  permanently 
called  away  the  attention  of  thinking  men  from 
the  world  within  to  the  world  without.  But 
science  in  its  deepest  sense  includes  all  knowl- 
edge ;  it  cannot  be  confined  to  the  study  of  the 
outward  world.     It  takes  for  its  domain  the  whole 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  6 

range  of  phenomenal  existence,  the  entire  circuit 
of  hmnan  experience.  It  is  compelled,  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  its  nature,  to  observe  and  analyze  all 
phenomena,  and  endeavor  to  bring  them  under 
law.  Positive  knowledge  includes  the  facts  of 
the  soul  as  well  as  those  of  senses,  —  and  Auguste 
Comte,  having  begun  by  declaring  that  all  ques- 
tions of  theology  must  be  repudiated  as  insoluble, 
ended  by  constructing  a  private  theology  of  his 
own. 

For  a  time  many  scientific  men  may  stand  aloof 
from  religion,  but  the  same  immortal  nature  is  in 
them  as  in  all  other  men.  The  same  questions 
must  arise  in  their  souls  as  in  others  to  whom 
knowledge  has  never  unrolled  her  ample  page, 
rich  with  the  spoils  of  time.  Blame  no  honest 
man  for  his  doubts.  Better  than  blind  assent  is 
conscientious  denial ;  better  than  the  passive  ac- 
ceptance of  the  most  important  truth  is  the  loy- 
alty to  truth  which  refuses  to  speak  until  it  can 
see.  "There  is  more  faith,"  says  Tennyson,  "in 
honest  doubt  than  in  half  our  creeds;"  and  Milton 
said  long  before  that  if  a  man  believes  only  be- 
cause his  pastor  or  his  church  says  so,  though  his 
belief  be  true,  he  himself  is  a  heretic,  so  that  the 
very  truth  he  holds  becomes  a  heresy.  Still,  the 
soul  of  man  is  not  fed  by  doubt,  but  by  belief; 
the  intellect  lives  by  faith,  not  by  denial.  Agnos- 
ticism may  be  an  important  medicine  for  a  tempo- 


4  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

rary  condition,  but  knowledge  is  the  food  by  which 
we  grow. 

§  2.   The  Science  of  Religion. 

Is  there  such  a  department  of  knowledge  as 
"  The  Science  of  Religion,"  or  such  a  method  as 
"  The  Scientific  Study  of  Religion  "  ?  If  there  is 
such  a  method,  it  must  consist  in  the  faithful 
study  of  the  facts,  and  a  careful  generalization 
from  those  facts.  It  must  be  free  from  prejudice 
for  or  against  any  system.  Instead  of  condemning 
a  religion  for  its  polytheism,  its  idolatry,  or  its  su- 
perstitious practices,  it  must  endeavor  to  find  the 
source  of  those  practices  in  human  nature,  or  in 
the  environment.  Thus  only  can  we  reach  what 
may  deserve  to  be  called  a  "  Science  of  Religion." 

Phvsical  Science  has  been  described  as  consistinar 
of  three  steps :  (1.)  Observation  of  facts;  (2.)  In- 
duction of  laws  from  those  facts;  (3.)  Verification 
of  these  laws  by  experiment.  Observation  of  facts 
alone  does  not  constitute  science.  Induction  and 
observation  without  verification  do  not  constitute 
science.  If  these  three  factors  are  applicable  in 
religious  investigation,  then  religion  can  become  a 
science,  but  not  otherwise. 

The  facts  of  consciousness  constitute  the  basis 
of  religious  science.  These  facts  are  as  real,  and 
as  constant  as  those  which  are  perceived  through 
the  senses.     Faith,  Hope,  and  Love,  are  as  real 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  5 

as  form,  sound,  and  color.  The  moral  Icms  also, 
which  may  be  deduced  from  such  experience  are 
real  and  permanent,  and  these  laws  can  be  veri- 
fied iu  the  daily  course  of  human  life.  If  this  is 
so  it  will  make  the  Science  of  Religion  possible. 

The  Science  of  Religion  is  equally  hostile  to  two 
opposite  assumptions.  One  is  the  assumption  that 
nothing  is  real  and  certain,  but  that  which  can  be 
verified  by  sensible  experience.  Spiritual  experi- 
ences are  as  much  facts  as  those  which  are  per- 
ceived by  the  senses.  The  other  assumption  is 
that  of  the  Theologians,  who  attempt  to  build  a 
science  of  religion  on  the  authority  of  the  Church 
or  the  Scripture.  There  may  be,  and  no  doubt  is, 
a  legitimate  authority  belonging  to  both ;  but  this 
is  not  to  be  assumed,  but  to  be  demonstrated. 

The  whole  realm  of  spiritual  exercises ;  the 
sense  of  sin  and  pardon;  prayer  and  its  answer; 
the  convictions,  trusts,  motive-powers,  illumina- 
tions, inspirations  of  holy  souls,  may  and  ought 
to  be  carefully  examined,  analyzed,  and  verified. 
Then  it  will  be  seen  what  part  are  illusion,  and 
what  part  reality.  When  this  is  accomplished,  but 
not  sooner,  there  will  be  a  Science  of  Religion. 

§  3.  Religious  Aspect   of  the    World   about    1100   B.   C. 
Egypt^  India,  Greece,  Persia,  Buddhism. 

In  order  the  better  to  see  what  the  problem  be- 
fore us  is,  let  us  take  a  brief  glance  at  the  religious 
history  of  the  race. 


6  TEN   GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Let  us  suppose  ourselves,  about  1100  years  be- 
fore Christ,  to  be  making  a  visit  to  Egypt.  It  is 
before  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war  —  of  course. 
Ions:  before  the  time  of  Homer,  to  whom  that  war 
was  a  tradition.  It  was  before  the  time  \Vhen  Da- 
vid founded  the  Hebrew  monarchy.  Tlie  largest 
part  of  Europe  was  sunk  in  barbarism.  But  the 
land  of  Egypt  had  been  a  highly  civilized  nation 
for  several  thousand  years.  Suppose  ourselves  to 
be  ascendino;  the  Nile  in  one  of  the  numerous  ves- 
sels  which  then  navigated  it. 

We  find  its  banks  crowded  with  villao;es ;  and  ves- 
sels  covering  the  water,  propelled  by  sails  and  oars, 
and  carrying  corn  or  building-stone,  from  one  part 
of  the  country  to  another.  Splendid  buildings,  the 
walls  covered  with  carved  figures  and  hieroglyphic 
inscriptions,  rise  successively  along  its  shores,  one 
vast  city  after  another  coming  in  sight.  Groups  of 
pyramids  appear,  rising  out  of  the  plain  like  moun- 
tains, not,  as  now,  ragged  and  torn,  but  covered 
with  polished  slabs  of  glittering  marble,  red  gran- 
ite, or  yellow  limestone.  As  we  continue  to  as- 
cend the  yellow  river,  now  at  the  height  of  its 
annual  inundation,  we  at  last  reach  Thebes,  the 
capital  of  the  Upper  Empire.  It  stands  on  a  cir- 
cular plain  ten  miles  across,  surrounded  by  a  belt 
of  hills,  a  vast  collection  of  temples,  palaces,  obe- 
lisks, and  majestic  tombs.  Two  colossal  statues 
rise  above  the  river  shore,  their  feet  covered  with 


DESCRIPTIO?^"    AND    CLASSIFICATION.  7 

the  water  of  the  inundation.  Karnak,  on  the  east- 
ern bank,  is  a  city  of  temples.  While  we  gaze  at 
these  marvellous  buildings,  we  see  processions  of 
priests  passing  along  the  avenues.  We  ask  the 
meaning  of  the  ceremony,  and  are  told  that  Egypt 
is  the  land  of  religion.  Every  day  has  its  festival, 
every  town  its  god  and  temple.  Sacrifices,  prayers, 
incense,  processions,  begin  and""  close  the  year. 
The  deities,  we  discover,  are  innumerable.  Great 
triads  of  gods,  superior  to  the  rest,  are  worshipped 
under  different  names  in  the  different  provinces. 
Every  year  the  Festivals  of  Osiris  and  Isis  renew 
the  mourning  for  the  Divine  Sufferer,  and  joy  at 
his  resurrection.  The  tombs  are  resplendent  with 
mosaics  and  brilliantly  colored  paintings.  The 
dead  are  more  cared  for  than  the  living:  their 
resting-places  are  carved  out  of  solid  rock  and 
filled  with  rich  furniture  and  ornaments.  One  su- 
preme being,  above  all  other  deities,  is  worshipped 
as  the  maker  and  preserver  of  all  things.  The 
hymns  and  ritual  of  the  dead,  the  belief  in  the 
transmigration  of  souls,  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
in  the  trial  of  the  soul  before  Osiris,  make  the  fu- 
ture life  almost  as  real  as  the  present.  But  with 
these  grand  ideas,  and  their  inspiring  truths,  are 
mingled  strange  notions,  which  cause  the  Egyp- 
tian worship  to  be  looked  upon  with  astonishment 
and  contempt  by  other  nations.  In  the.  holiest 
place  in  some  temple,  when  the  rich   golden   or 


8  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

purple  hanging  was  withdrawn,  you  would  find  a 
cat,  a  crocodile,  or  a  dog  as  the  apparent  object  of 
worship.  But  before  you  indulged  your  scorn  for 
their  puerile  adoration,  you  might  listen  to  the  sol- 
emn priest,  who  would  say,  "Do  not  think  we  wor- 
ship  these  animals.  Each  of  them  is  a  symbol  of  a 
divine  thouo-ht  of  the  Creator.  We  reverence  the 
Creator  in  his  work.  We  dare  not  make  a  statue 
in  the  likeness  of  God ;  we  take  the  creatures  of 
his  hand  as  signifying  his  character.  It  is  to  avoid 
idolatry,  to  avoid  making  anything  in  the  image  of 
God,  that  we  place  these  creatures  in  the  shrine." 

Such  was  the  religion  of  Egypt  during  thousands 
of  years,  running  back  into  the  darkness  of  prehis- 
toric times.  Let  us  now  suppose  ourselves  trans- 
ported across  the  continent  of  Asia  and  dropped 
into  Northern  India.  Here,  we  meet  with  another 
race,  speaking  a  different  language,  worshipping 
other  gods.  Here,  descending  from  the  great  pla- 
teau of  Asia,  they  have  brought  into  the  Punjaub 
their  sacred  hymns  to  Varuna,  to  Indra,  to  Agni ; 
to  the  Sun,  the  Heavens,  the  Dawn ;  to  Fire,  Air, 
and  all  the  elements.  Here  also  has  grown  up  a 
vast  priesthood,  temples,  sacrifices,  prayers.  Here 
ascetics  torture  their  bodies  in  hopes  of  getting  an 
ecstatic  glimpse  of  God.  Here  they  retire  into  the 
desert,  forget  the  world,  immerse  themselves  in 
long  contemplation,  and  commune  with  the  Spirit 
of  the  Universe.    Time  disappears  —  Eternity  is  in 


DESCRIPTION    AND    CLASSIFICATION.  9 

their  mind  and  heart.  They  are  hoping  to  escape 
from  themselves  and  to  be  absorbed  in  God.  Such 
was,  and  such  in  its  essence  has  continued  to  be, 
the  faith  of  the  Hhidus  to  this  hour. 

Once  more  change  the  scene.  It  is  670  years 
later,  430  before  Christ,  and  now  we  are  in  Greece, 
assisting  at  Athens  at  the  Pan-Athenaic  Festival. 
All  Greece  has  come  to  worship  the  Virgin  God- 
dess in  this  fair  city  of  her  choice. 

The  city  of  Athens,  the  eye  of  Greece,  is  in  its 
glory.  It  is  the  age  of  Pericles.  That  age  had 
made  Athens  the  centre  of  the  highest  civilization 
of  the  world  (b.  c.  445-431).  The  three  great 
tragic  poets,  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides, 
are  all  Athenians,  and  their  plays  are  performed 
every  day  before  the  people.  The  greatest  of  ar- 
chitects and  sculptors,  Phidias,  has  just  completed 
the  noble  buildings  and  statues  which  crown  the 
Acropolis.  Socrates,  thirty-eight  years  old,  is 
teaching  and  conversing  with  all  whom  he  meets 
in  the  streets  of  Athens.  Anaxagoras,  one  of  the 
philosophers  who  first  taught  in  Greece  the  doc- 
trine of  one  Supreme  Being,  of  one  passionless  Di- 
vine mind  who  formed  the  world  out  of  chaos,  has 
just  been  accused  of  impiety  for  denying  the  gods 
of  Olympus.  On  the  hill  of  Areopagus,  opposite 
the  Acropolis,  Pericles  has  recently,  with  consum- 
mate eloquence  and  pathos,  defended  Aspasia  from 
the  same  charge. 


10  TEN,   GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

And  now  we  stand  and  view  the  procession  as  it 
passes :  old  men  leading  the  way,  carrying  green 
branches  of  olives ;  then  a  band  of  soldiers  with 
shields  and  spears ;  then  strangers  from  other 
lands,  each  with  a  boat  in  his  hand,  to  show  that 
he  came  from  far  ;  next  the  women  with  pots 
of  sacred  water  on  their  heads;  then  a  choir  of 
yomig  men  singing  hymns  ;  next  to  them,  select 
virgins  of  noble  families,  carrying  in  baskets  the 
sacred  implements  of  sacrifice  ;  then  other  girls 
bearing  umbrellas.  So  the  procession  winds  its 
way  up  to  the  Acropolis,  the  sacred  hill,  covered 
with  temples,  all  bright  in  the  sunshine,  gleaming 
with  polished  marble,  in  fair  proportion  and  match- 
less beauty.  And  now  we  stand  before  the  Par- 
thenon, with  its  unapproached  majesty,  its  long 
colonnades,  its  pediment  covered  with  noble  stat- 
ues of  superhuman  size,  all  enriched  with  vivid  col- 
ors, giving  it  an  air  of  festive  gayety. 

On  our  left,  raised  on  a  high  base,  is  the  grand 
Phidian  statue  of  Pallas,  seventy  feet  high,  with 
long  lance  and  lofty  helmet,  looking  far  away  over 
the  ^Egean  Sea.  The  procession  moves  up  the 
steps,  encircles  the  temple,  walking  around  it  be- 
hind the  columns ;  then  the  virgins  take  the  pe- 
plos,  the  dress  they  have  woven  for  Pallas,  and  put 
it  on  the  recumbent  statue  of  the  goddess,  with  its 
ivory  limbs  and  golden  robes,  in  the  Erectheum. 

The  Egyptian  worship  was  sombre  and  mysteri- 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION".  11 

ous,  making  death  and  another  world  its  central 
ideas.  But  how  bright  and  joyous  was  that  of  the 
Greeks,  bringing  dow^n  their  gods  to  enjoy  with 
them  the  happy  festivals  which  rounded  their 
cheerful  year ! 

Ao-ain  the  scene  chano;es.  We  now  o;o  back  to 
the  East  and  come  to  Persia,  where  we  find  still  an- 
other form  of  relio-ion. 

The  great  monarchy  of  Persia,  founded  by  Cy- 
rus 100  years  before,  is  now  at  this  period,  430 
years  before  Christ,  already  tending  toward  its  de- 
cline. A  hundred  years  later,  it  is  to  fall  before 
the  triumphant  march  of  Alexander  and  his  Mace- 
donians. But  now  it  still  retains  the  ancient  faith 
of  Zoroaster,  though  modified  by  the  developments 
of  a  thousand  years.  Herodotus  describes  it  as  it 
existed  at  the  period  of  which  we  speak.  In  his 
insatiate  desire  for  knowledge,  he  had  gathered  up 
all  that  he  could  learn  of  Persia,  and  says  :  "  It  is 
not  customary  for  the  Persians  to  have  idols,  tem- 
ples, or  altars.  They  offer  sacrifices  on  the  sum- 
mits of  mountains,  not  erecting  altars  or  kindling 
fires,  but  they  carry  the  animal  to  a  pure  spot,  and 
there  the  sacrificer  prays  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
empire,  the  king,  and  all  others."  "  The  Persians 
believe  fire  to  be  a  god." 

Herodotus  we  find  to  be  correct.  Here  are  no 
temples,  no  altars,  no  idol  worship  of  any  kind. 
The  Supreme  Being  is  worshipped  by  one  symbol, 


12  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

fire,  which  is  pure  and  purifies  all  things.  The 
prayers  are  for  purity,  the  libation  the  juice  of  a 
plant.  Oruiazd  has  created  everything  good,  and 
all  his  creatures  are  pure.  Listen  to  the  priest 
chanting  the  litany  thus  :  "  I  invoke  and  celebrate 
Ahura  Mazda,  brilliant,  greatest,  best.  All-perfect, 
all-powerful,  all-wise,  all-beautiful,  only  source  of 
knowledge  and  happiness  ;  he  has  created  us,  he 
has  formed  us,  he  sustains  us."  '■'■  He  belongs  to 
those  who  think  good  ;  to  those  who  think  evil  he 
does  not  belong.  He  belongs  to  those  who  speak 
good  ;  to  those  who  speak  evil  he  does  not  belong. 
He  belongs  to  those  who  do  good  ;  to  those  who 
do  evil  he  does  not  belong."  This  is  the  religion  of 
the  great  race  who  founded  the  Persian  Empire. 

To  these  worshippers  life  did  not  seem  to  be  a 
gay  festival,  as  to  the  Greeks,  nor  a  single  step  on 
the  long  pathway  of  the  soul's  transmigration,  as 
to  the  Egyptians ;  but  a  field  of  battle  between 
mighty  powers  of  good  and  evil,  where  Ormazd 
and  Ahriman  meet  in  daily  conflict,  and  where  the 
servant  of  God  is  to  maintain  a  perpetual  battle 
against  the  powers  of  darkness,  by  cherishing  good 
thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  actions. 

After  other  centuries  have  passed,  if  we  come 
again  into  Asia,  we  find  a  new  religion  which,  born 
in  India  and  afterward  expelled  from  thence,  has 
converted  by  its  zealous  missionaries  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  East.     Buddhism  is  a  religion  which 


DESCRIPTION"   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  13 

has  been  said  to  believe  neither  in  God,  nor  the 
soul,  nor  in  a  future  life.  We  shall  examine  these 
charo-es  hereafter.  But  now  o-o  into  the  heart  of 
Tartary  and  you  will  find  thousands  of  monks  liv- 
ing peacefully  among  the  fierce  tribes  of  the  des- 
ert, kind,  self-denj^ng,  engaged  in  daily  worship 
and  prayer.  Their  monasteries  extend  through 
Bm'mah,  Thibet,  China,  and  Japan.  They  teach 
their  simple  faith  to  millions  of  human  beings, 
seeking  to  escape  from  the  evils  of  time  into  the 
perfect  rest  of  an  eternal  world. 

Come  down  still  later,  to  the  sixth  century  after 
Christ.  We  are  now  in  Arabia.  It  is  mostly  peo- 
pled by  wandering  tribes,  divided  from  each  other, 
roaming  among  the  deserts  of  the  vast  peninsula, 
in  search  of  pasture  for  their  flocks.  So  they  had 
roamed  for  a  thousand  years,  hardly  known  to  the 
civilized  world,  exercising  no  influence  upon  it.  So 
they  might  have  roamed  for  a  thousand  years 
longer.  But  a  man  appears  among  them  with  a 
fixed  idea,  a  religious  conviction,  faith  in  one  Su- 
preme Being,  one  great  master,  and  with  an  abhor- 
rence for  all  inferior  worship.  His  belief,  after 
years  of  toil,  he  succeeds  in  spreading.  He  unites 
these  children  of  the  desert  into  mighty  armies. 
They  pour  out  like  a  flood,  and  sweep  across  Af- 
rica to  the  Atlantic,  sweep  over  Syria  and  Persia 
into  India,  and  at  last  as  far  as  China.  It  seems 
to  the  world  that  its  day  of  doom  has  come.     But, 


14  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

after  this  outbreak  of  conquest,  follows  an  out- 
break of  invention,  thought,  study.  Great  schol- 
ars arise  among  them,  wonderful  artists,  who  carve 
stone  till  it  looks  like  lace.  Scientific  inventions 
follow  in  all  directions.  Europe  goes  to  school  to 
Asia,  it  reads  Aristotle  in  Arabic,  it  learns  astron- 
omy, chemistry,  and  medicine  at  Cordova.  The 
whole  of  this  mighty  flame  which  lit  up  the  world 
during  many  centuries  was  kindled  in  the  thought 
of  one  man,  who  really  believed  in  God  with  all 
his  soul.     Such  is  the  power  of  religious  ideas. 

Thus  everywhere  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
from  the  earliest  times,  we  find  religions;  each 
great  nation  and  race,  Egypt,  India,  Persia,  Greece, 
Arabia,  having  its  own  special  faith.  Where  did 
they  come  from  ?  What  is  their  value  ?  Wherein 
do  they  differ  ?  Wherein  do  they  agree  ?  Such 
are  some  of  the  questions  we  shall  try  to  answer 
in  this  work. 

Besides  the  religions  I  have  specified  there  are 
of  course  many  others,  such  as  that  of  China,  Ju- 
daism, the  Scandinavian  belief  and  worship,  the 
state  religion  of  ancient  Rome,  the  strange  forms 
and  faith  of  the  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Phoeni- 
cians, Carthaginians,  the  religion  of  the  Druids, 
and  those  found  on  the  continent  of  America  when 
it  was  discovered,  the  worship  of  the  Mexican  and 
Peruvian  Empires.  Lower  down  are  the  more 
primitive  forms  of  religion,  the  tribal  worship  of 


desceiptio:n'  and  classification.  15 

ghosts,  evil  spirits,  genii.  Thus  we  see  the  whole 
world  from  the  earliest  times  engaged  in  the  wor- 
ship of  Unseen  Powers. 

How  shall  we  brins;  this  chaos  into  order  ?  How 
extricate  some  system  out  of  this  confusion  ?  Our 
first  attempt  must  be  to  classify  these  varieties 
under  some  more  general  form.  Then  we  can 
compare  them  together  to  find  wherein  they  agree, 
and  wherein  they  differ,  and  learn  what  there  is  of 
truth  or  error  in  each. 

§  4.  Definition  of  Religion. 

But  first  let  us  look  for  some  simple,  yet  com- 
prehensive definition  of  religion.  Passing  by  oth- 
ers, I  will  for  the  present  take  this  :  "'  Religion  is 
the  worship  and  service  by  man  of  Invisible  Pow- 
ers, believed  to  be  like  himself,  yet  above  himself." 
This  definition  includes  what  is  called  "  Animism," 
or  the  worship  of  departed  human  souls,  and  also 
at  the  other  extreme  many  forms  of  Pantheism. 
Spiritual  Pantheism  personifies  the  All  of  Things, 
making  the  universe  full  of  feeling,  consciousness, 
vitality,  and  purpose.  Spinoza,  the  arch-Pantheist, 
declares  that  we  must  "  love  God  as  our  supreme 
good,"  that  "  we  love  God  and  are  blessed."  Shel- 
ley, another  Pantheist,  has  a  hymn  to  "  The  Spirit 
of  Intellectual  Beauty,"  which  he  addresses  as  a 
being  who  can  hear  and  answer  ;  "  an  awful  love- 
liness, which  can  give  more  than  words  express." 


16  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

He  says  :  "  Let  thy  power  supply  calm  to  the  life 
of  one  who  worships  thee."  Even  Fetichism  is  in- 
cluded in  our  definition,  for  the  savage  believes 
that  the  rude  stone  or  block  which  he  looks  on 
with  superstitious  reverence,  has  an  unseen  spirit 
acting  through  it.  It  is  the  spirit  which  is  feared 
or  propitiated,  and  not  the  block.  So  we  say  that 
"  Religion  is  the  tendency  in  man  to  worship  and 
serve  invisible  beings,  like  himself,  but  above  him- 
self." This  supposes  and  includes  the  belief  that 
there  is  a  communication  between  the  worshipper 
and  the  being  worshipped,  by  which  good  or  evil 
may  come  ;  that  these  beings  can  hear  prayer  and 
receive  service,  and  in  turn  can  send  down  help  or 
hindrance,  as  they  are  pleased  or  displeased  with 
their  worshipper.  Dr.  Hedge  says  that  "  Fetich- 
ism is  not  materialism ;  but  it  is  one  of  the  first 
proofs  of  a  spirit  in  man  akin  to  the  divine,  that 
he  can  thus  invest  inferior  and  even  inanimate 
creatures  with  the  attributes  of  Deity."  And 
through  all  the  long  ascent  of  thought  from  these 
humble  idolaters  to  the  worshipper  of  Him  who  is 
"  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all,"  "  in  whom  we 
live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being,"  there  is  this 
one  element  in  common,  the  faith  in  unseen  pow- 
ers above  us,  but  not  far  from  us,  with  whom  we 
can  speak,  who  can  hear  and  answer  prayer.  No 
matter  how  much  these  thousand  religions  of  the 
world  may  differ,  they  agree  in  this  testimony ; 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  17 

that  man  has  a  natural  inborn  faith  in  supernatu- 
ral powers  with  whom  he  can  commune,  to  whom 
he  is  related,  and  that  this  life  and  this  earth  are 
not  enough  to  satisfy  his  soul. 

§  5.   Religion  is  U^iiversal.     Exceptional  Cases  examined. 

Religion  is  so  universal  a  phenomenon,  that  it 
may  safely  be  said  to  belong  to  human  nature. 
Though  there  may  be  tribes  so  debased  as  to  man- 
ifest little  or  no  religious  tendency,  we  still  call 
man  a  religious  being.  It  would  not  affect  our  ar- 
gument if  such  entire  absence  of  the  supernatural 
faculty  should  be  verified  in  certain  instances  of 
depressed  organizations.-^  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, no  such  instance  has  been  found,  certainly 
not  verified.  Mr.  Tylor,  in  his  work  on  "  Primi- 
tive Culture,"  asks  whether  there  have  been  any 

^  See,  among  other  works,  Das  ReUyionsioesen  der  rohesten  NatuV' 
volker,  von  Gustave  Roskoff.     Leipzig:  BrocJchaus,  1880. 

In  this  work  we  find  that  Waitz  considers  the  lowest  races  to  be 
the  Australians,  Bushmen,  Hottentots,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Terra 
del  Fuego.  Peschel  (Volkerkunde)  regards  some  of  the  Indians  of 
Brazil  (Botucuden)  as  the  lowest.  Darwin,  Fitzroy,  and  Wallis  say- 
that  the  people  of  Terra  del  Fuego  ar,e  below  all  others.  Burchell 
is  of  opinion  that  the  Bushmen,  D'Urville  that  the  Tasmanian  and 
Australian,  Darapier  and  Forsterthat  the  people  of  Mallicollo,  Owen 
that  the  people  of  the  Andaman  Islands  (in  the  Bay  of  Bengal)  are  at 
the  bottom.  Lubbock  gives  this  place  to  the  Lapps.  Others  give  it 
to  the  "Digger  Indians."  For  authorities  and  references  see  also 
PJieiderer's  neligions  Pkilosophie,Waitz  Antkropologie,  Sir  John  Lub- 
bock's Prehistoric  Times,  Quatrefages'  Human  Race,  Livingstone's 
Journeys  in  South  Africa. 


18  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

tribes  of  men  so  low  in  culture  as  to  have  no  relig- 
ious conceptions  whatever  ?  He  replies  by  saying 
that  no  evidence  has  been  brought  forward  of  the 
existence  of  such  tribes.  He  adds  that  the  very 
writers  who  assert  the  non-existence  of  religious 
ideas  among  certain  savages  not  unfrequently  give 
evidence  themselves  to  the  contrary}    He  quotes  Dr. 

1  For  Bushmen,  see  Burchell  and  Campbell  (Second  Journey  in 
Africa).  Livingstone  is  satisfied  that  the  Bushmen  worship  a  male 
and  female  deity.  Arbousset  says  (Arbousset  et  Danmas,  Voyage 
d' Exploration,  etc.)  that  they  believe  in  an  invisible  man  in  heaven, 
to  whom  they  pray  before  going  to  war.  As  to  the  Hottentots,  Sir  J. 
Lubbock  quotes  Le  Veillant,  who  says,  "  they  have  nothing  which 
approaches  the  idea  of  an  avenging  or  rewarding  deity."  But  Waitz 
declares  that  Nott  and  Gliddon's  comparison  of  the  Bushmen  to  the 
Ourang  outang  is  a  "  shameless  exaggeration,  made  in  the  interest  of 
slavery."  Waitz  thinks  it  is  unjust  to  say  they  have  no  idea  of  relig- 
ion; they  worship  the  moon  with  dances  and  songs,  etc.  Kolb  (Jour- 
ney to  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1719)  declares  they  have  religious  ideas, 
believe  in  a  divine  creator  and  ruler,  and  call  liiui  "  the  great  Cap- 
tain." The  moon  is  their  visible  God,  but  their  invisible  God  they 
name  "  Jouma  Tik-quoa,"  or  "  God  of  Gods." 

As  to  the  people  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  Darwin  (Descent  of  Man)  says 
they  have  no  religion.  But  he  describes  their  blowing  into  the  air  to 
keep  away  evil  sjiirits.  Phillips,  a  missionary,  complained  of  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  a  native  exclaimed  :  "  Do  not  say  that;  he  will 
hide  himself,  and  it  will  be  cold." 

As  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Andaman  Islands  (see  Uncivilized 
Races)  they  also  are  said  to  have  no  trace  of  religion.  But  Quatre- 
fages  informs  us  that  the  authors  who  assert  this  on  the  strength  of 
Mowatt's  testimony  (The  Andaman  Isla7iders), overlook  the  evidence 
of  Michael  Symes  and  Day.  The  first  reports  what  was  told  him  by 
Captain  Hockoe.  Day  tells  us  what  he  himself  saw.  Both  state  that 
tlie  Rlincopies  worship  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  genii  of  the  woods, 
waters,  and  hills  as  agents  of  those  higher  powers;  that  they  believe 


DESCEIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  19 

Lang  as  declaring  that  the  aborigines  of  Australia 
have  no  idea  of  a  divinity,  no  object  of  worship,  no 
idol,  "  in  short,  that  they  have  nothing  whatever 
of  the  character  of  religion  or  religions  observance 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  beasts  that  perish." 
This  statement  of  Dr.  Lang  has  often  been  quoted 
as  of  high  authority  and  as  proof  that  men  may 
exist  with  no  trace  of  relio-ion.  But  Dr.  Lans;  him- 
self  states  that  these  very  tribes  attribute  small- 
pox to  the  influence  of  an  evil  spirit;  that  they 
propitiate  him  by  an  offering  of  honey,  and  some- 
times by  human  sacrifices.  Another  traveller 
among  these  same  savages,  Mr.  Ridle}^,  says  that 
he  everywhere  found  among  them  definite  tradi- 

in  an  evil  spirit  who  sends  the  storms;  and  that  they  believe  in  a  fu- 
ture life. 

The  Tasmanians  are  denied,  by  Nidon  and  Dove  (Lubbock),  to  have 
any  religion.  But  Tylor  quotes  opposite  oijinions.  Bonwick,  Daily 
Life  of  the  Tasmanians,  describes  various  religious  ceremonies,  and 
says  they  believe  in  the  ghosts  of  the  departed.  The  Esquimaux  and 
Greenlanders  are  classed  by  Sir  J.  Lubbock  as  people  with  no  relig- 
ion. But  it  is  certain  that  they  believe  iu  a  great  number  of  spirits. 
One  is  called  an  Innua,  or  possessor  of  the  air,  who  also  commands 
the  people  through  sorcerers,  as  to  what  they  must  not  do.  There 
are  also  "  Spirits  of  the  Sea,"  "  Spirits  of  the  Fire,"  "  Spirits  of  the 
Mountains,"  ""War-spirits,"  and  a  mighty  "Wind-spirit." 

The  religion  of  the  Lapps  is  described  by  Klemm  {History  of  Cul- 
ture). They  have  Gods  of  the  Sky,  of  the  Thunder,  and  other  ele- 
mentary deities.     They  also  worship  the  sun,  and  water. 

The  North  American  Indians  are  said,  by  Sir  John  I,ubbock,  to 
"  have  no  religion,  nor  any  idea  of  God."  This  is  fully  contradicted 
by  many  writers,  and  the  opinion  is  now  known  to  be  without  foun- 
dation. See,  for  example,  the  careful  investigations  of  Brinton  and 
Bancroft. 


20  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

tions  concerning  supernatural  beings,  of  whom  one 
is  the  creator  of  all  thino-s  and  another  the  source 
of  evil.  Mr.  Moifat,  while  declaring  that  the  tribes 
of  South  Africa  have  no  conception  of  a  future  life, 
himself  gives  the  name  used  by  them  for  the  ghost 
or  shade  of  the  departed.  In  regard  to  South 
America,  anotlier  writer,  Felix  de  Arana,  declares 
that  the  native  tribes  have  no  religious  notion  of 
any  kind,  and  then  presently  states  that  the  Paya- 
guas  bury  arms  and  clothing  with  their  dead  to  be 
used  by  them  in  another  life,  and  that  the  Guavas 
believe  in  a  being  who  rewards  good  and  punishes 
evil.  Evidently  when  these  writers  assert  that 
such  tribes  have  no  religion,  they  mean  they  have 
no  highly  developed  and  organized  religion,  no 
systematic  theology.  They  call  them  irreligious, 
just  as  the  early  Christians  were  called  atheists  by 
the  Romans,  because  they  had  no  public  religion 
like  that  of  Greece  or  Rome,  no  temples,  altars,  or 
sacrifices.  We  are  too  apt  to  say  that  a  man  has 
no  religion  who  has  a  religion  different  from  our- 
selves,  that  a  man  has  no  Christ  who  believes  in 
another  form  of  Christianity  than  ours,  and  that  a 
man  is  without  God  who  worships  the  Deity  by 
other  forms  than  our  own.  Socrates  was  called  an 
atheist  because  his  conception  of  the  Deity  was 
higher  than  that  of  his  contemporaries.  Spinoza 
was  called  an  atheist  because  he  believed  there 
was  nothing  except  God  in  the  universe  of  being. 


DESCRIPTION    AND    CLASSIFICATION.  21 

A  similar  narrowness  of  judgment  is  shown  by 
those  who  assert  that  certain  savage  nations  are 
wholly  destitute  of  religion. 

After  examining  these  statements,  Mr.  Tylor 
concludes  thus  :  "  So  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the 
immense  mass  of  accessible  evidence,  we  have  to 
admit  that  the  belief  in  spiritual  beings  appears 
amono;  all  low  races  with  whom  we  have  attained 
to  thoroughly  intimate  acquaintance." 

§  6.  Religious  Statistics  of  the  World. 

Look  at  the  map  of  the  world.  The  popula- 
tion of  our  earth  is  supposed  to  amount  to  about 
1,392,000,000.  Of  these  about  100,000,000  are 
what  are  called  Pagan  or  Heathen,  by  which  is 
meant  the  lowest  order  of  religious  belief.  Next 
to  these  is  the  chief  surviving  Polytheistic  Re- 
ligion, that  of  the  Brahmans,  numbering  about 
175,000,000.  Then  comes  the  religion  of  Buddha, 
which,  with  the  system  of  Confucius,  embraces 
some  420,000,000.  The  Mohammedans  number 
201,000,000,  and  the  Christians,  including  Roman 
Catholic,  Greek  Church,  Protestant,  and  smaller 
bodies,  amount  to  about  388,000,000,  —  in  all 
1,284,000,000.  The  whole  of  Eastern  Asia  is  oc- 
cupied by  the  Buddhists,  India  by  the  Brahmins, 
large  parts  of  Africa,  Australia,  and  the  South  Sea 
Islands  by  the  Pagan  tribes,  parts  of  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa  by  the  Mohammedans,  the  largest  part 


22  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

of  Europe  and  America  by  Christians.  The  two 
monotlieistic  religions  —  Christianity  and  Islam  — 
are  -believed  by  nearly  half  of  the  populations  of 
the  earth. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  man  outgrows  all 
supernatural  religion  as  he  becomes  more  fully 
unfolded  intellectually;  that  then,  science,  art,  lit- 
erature, humanity,  take  the  place  of  God  as  the 
object  of  devotion  and  service.  To  see  if  there  is 
any  pronounced  tendency  in  this  direction,  let  us 
take  the  instance  of  the  United  States,  —  a  coun- 
try in  wdiich  intellectual  development  has  been 
carried  further  among  the  masses  than  anywhere 
else,  unless  we  except  parts  of  Germany.  In  1850 
there  were  in  the  United  States  38,000  church 
buildings;  in  1860  there  were  54,000;  in  1870 
there  were  63,000  (and  72,000  active  organiza- 
tions). In  1850  the  buildings  would  accommodate 
14,000,000  of  persons;  in  1860,  19,000,000;  in 
1870,  21,000,000.  The  value  of  church  property 
in  the  United  States  in  1850  was  $87,000,000;  in 
1860  it  was  $171,000,000;  and  in  1870  it  was 
$354,000,000.  The  property  had  more  than 
doubled  in  ten  years,  and  these  years  included 
the  whole  Civil  War.  This  would  not  be  so  re- 
markable in  those  States  where  there  is  a  relig- 
ious establishment,  and  where  churches  are  built 
and  supported  by  taxation.  But  in  the  United 
States  church  accommodations  were  provided  by 


DESCRIPTION   A^D    CLASSIFICATION.  23 

the  free  act  of  the  people  themselves  for  more 
than  half  the  population,  which  was  then  less 
than  39,000,000,  including  the  young  and  old, 
the  sick,  and  those  kept  from  church  by  all 
other  causes.  For  this  39,000,000,  21,000,000 
of  church  sittings  were  provided,  and  this  in  the 
land  where  70  per  cent,  of  the  youth  go  to 
school,  and  in  which  over  1500  millions  of  copies 
of  newspapers  are  published  annually.  Thus  far 
the  progress  of  education  has  not  hindered  the 
progress  of  religion.  If  anything  can  show  that 
man  in  the  highest  state  of  culture  yet  attained 
continues  to  be  a  religious  being,  as  he  was  in  the 
lowest — these  statistics  wdll  go  far  in  that  direc- 
tion. Thus  a  survey  of  the  history  of  the  world 
brings  us  to  the  same  conclusion  with  that  of  the 
Apostle,  that  God  "  has  made  of  one  blood  all  na- 
tions of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth, 
having  determined  their  appointed  times  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation,  that  they  should  seek 
the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and 

find  him." 

§  7.  False  Classifications. 

Paul  here  intimates  that  the  Creator  has  not 
only  implanted  in  man  the  tendency  to  feel  after 
God,  but  also  the  capacity  of  finding  him.  It 
would  much  diminish  our  confidence  in  this  state- 
ment if  we  were  compelled  to  believe  that  the 
vast  majority  of  the  race  had  utterly  failed  of 


24  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

finding  their  Maker.  Such,  however,  until  re- 
cently, with  few  exceptions,  has  been  the  teach- 
in  o*  of  Christian  theology.  Christianity,  we  were 
told,  is  the  only  true  religion ;  all  others  are 
wholly  false,  as  bad  as  atheism  or  worse.  Mo- 
hammedanism is  a  soul-destroying  imposture ; 
Buddhism  is  a  denial  of  God  and  immortality ; 
the  idolatries  of  the  poor  heathen  are  the  wor- 
ship of  devils ;  the  heathen  are  not  feeling  their 
way  upward  to  God,  but  downward  to  eternal  ruin. 

Of  course,  when  we  had  thus  divided  the  faiths 
of  mankind  by  making  one  true  and  all  the  rest 
false,  these  false  religions  were  deemed  hardly 
worth  studying,  and  were  deprived  of  interest. 
Who  cares  much  for  the  difference  between  one 
kind  of  falsehood  and  another  ?  Nor  can  Ave  say 
that  man  has  a  religious  nature,  if  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  human  beings  have  never  found  God. 
We  could  hardly  assert  that  sight  was  a  natural 
human  function,  if  the  greatest  number  of  men 
were  born  blind.  How  much  more  large,  gener- 
ous, and  just,  how  much  more  full  of  inspiration 
is  the  faith  of  Paul,  that  God  has  made  all  men 
to  feel  after  him  and  find  him,  and  that  he  has 
never  left  himself  without  a  witness  anywhere  in 
the  world  ? 

Tlie  old  classifications  of  the  religions  of  the 
world  were  such  as  these : 

True  and  False  Religions. 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  25 

Natural  and  Supernatural. 

Paganism  and  Revealed  Religion. 

Spiritual  Religion  and  Superstitions. 

But  such  is  not  a  scientific  method ;  for,  instead 
of  beginnino;  with  the  facts,  it  sets  out  from  a 
theory.  It  judges  every  question  beforehand.  It 
also  destroys  our  interest  in  the  study,  if  we  assume 
that  the  peculiarities  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
religions  of  the  world  are  errors  and  falsehoods, 
having  no  special  meaning  or  significance.  But  if 
we  believe  with  Paul,  that  all  the  races  of  men  are 
seeking  after  God,  the  case  is  different.  Then  the 
whole  of  the  religions  of  mankind  become  at  once 
full  of  interest  to  us;  they  all  contain  some  ele- 
ments of  divine  faith.  At  all  events,  in  the  study 
before  us,  we  have  only  one  interest,  that  is,  to  find 
what  they  really  are,  and  to  compare  them  together 
to  discover  their  relations.  Within  a  few  years  the 
opportunity  for  such  study  has  vastly  increased. 
Great  progress  has  been  made  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  oldest  religions.  The  writings  on  the  As- 
syrian and  Egyptian  monuments  have  been  deci- 
phered, translated,  and  published.  Many  of  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Brahmins,  Buddhists,  Chinese, 
and  ancient  Persians  have  become  accessible  by 
the  labors  of  European  scholars. 

In  beginning  this  study  it  is  desirable,  after 
defining  religion,  to  find  the  true  way  of  classi- 
fying the  religions.      This  will  be   our  first  step 


26  TEN    GREAT    RELIGlOlSrS. 

I 

out  of  confusion,  comparing  them  in  order  to  dis- 
tribute them  into  classes.  The  old  classification, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  to  divide  them  into  true  and 
false,  —  Judaism  and  Christianity  being  true,  and 
all  the  rest  false.  But  this  classification  assumes 
at  the  beginning  the  very  fact  which  should  ap- 
pear, if  at  all,  as  the  result  of  an  inquiry.  We 
wish  now  to  find  out  what  there  is  true,  and  what 
false  in  each.  This  classification,  therefore,  will 
not  suffice.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the 
division  into  natural  and  supernatural  religion,  — 
rational  and  inspired,  and  the  like.  All  these  as- 
sume at  the  beginning  what  ought  to  come  out  at 
the  end,  if  it  comes  out  at  all. 

§  8.  J.  better  Classification.     Tribal,  Ethnic,  and  CatJioUc. 

The  only  true  method  of  classification  is  to  base 
it  on  observed  facts.  If  we  look  at  the  facts  we 
shall  immediately  see  that  the  less  highly  organ- 
ized religions,  which  show  an  undeveloped  ritual, 
priesthood,  and  creed,  without  sacred  books,  with 
no  religious  architecture  or  music,  and  which  ex- 
ercise little  influence  on  the  worshipers,  belong  to 
the  undeveloped  races,  —  those  whom  we  usually 
call  savages.  I  do  not  like  the  word  savage,  for 
it  carries  with  it  a  touch  of  contempt  and  the  ab- 
sence of  sympathy.  Let  us  call  them  childlike  or 
primitive  races.  They  have  not  yet  attained  to 
national  existence  ;  they  exist  in  tribes.    The  first 


DESCRIPTION    AND    CLASSIFICATION.  27 

class  of  religions,  then,  will  be  PrimUive  Religions 
or  Tribal  Religions. 

Next  we  shall  discover  that  many  of  the  great 
religions  of  the  world  are  confined  to  nations, 
each  religion  belonging  to  one  nation,  and  never 
going  beyond  its  limits.  Thus,  the  religion  of 
Egypt  for  many  thousand  years  was  confined  to 
Egypt  alone  ;  the  Assyrian  religion  to  Assyria  ; 
that  of  Greece  to  the  Hellenic  race  ;  that  of  Rome 
to  the  Roman  people  ;  that  of  Confucius  to  China ; 
that  of  Brahmanism  to  India  ;  that  of  the  Eddas 
to  the  Scandinavian  or  Teutonic  races.  They  never 
went  beyond  their  boundaries,  nor  w^ished  to  go 
beyond  them.  You  never  hear  of  missionaries 
from  Egypt  trying  to  make  converts  in  Europe  to 
Osiris  or  Isis.  Egyptian  temples  were  to  be  fcund 
in  Rome  in  later  times,  but  they  were  for  the  use 
of  the  Egyptians  living  there.  Indeed,  it  was  a 
maxim  in  antiquity  that  each  man  ought  to  wor- 
ship according  to  the  religion  of  his  nation,  for 
religion  was  a  cult,  not  a  beliefo 

Therefore  the  second  division  in  our  classifica- 
tion will  comprise  the  Religions  of  Races  or  Na- 
tions. I  say  races  or  nations,  to  meet  the  fact  that 
sometimes  two  or  three  nations  of  the  same  race 
would  hold  the  same  religion,  as,  for  example,  the 
Lacedemonians  and  Athenians,  both  belonging  to 
the  same  Hellenic  race,  and  both  adopting  one 
Pan-Hellenic   religion.     We  will  call  our  second 


28  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

class  Ethnic  Beligions,  from  the  Greek  word  eth- 
nos,  which  means  nation,  and  also  race. 

But  now  we  find  another  order  of  religions 
which  manifest  a  tendency  to  overpass  the  bound- 
aries of  race,  and  to  make  converts  outside.  These 
are  religions  which  have  a  belief,  and  in  which 
worship  follows  faith.  Such  was  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion, which  had  confidence  that  the  world  must 
at  last  worship  Jehovah,  and  that  all  the  Gentiles 
would  come  to  believe  in  him.  Hence  it  was  a 
missionary  religion,  compassing  sea  and  land  to 
make  proselytes.  ^  Such  also,  as  we  know,  is  Chris- 
tianity, which  believes  in  converting  the  world  to 
Christ.  Such  also  is  the  religion  of  Mohammed, 
which,  beginning  as  an  Arab  religion,  has  con- 
verted the  Turks,  the  Persians,  the  Egyptians, 
Hindus,  and  many  other  races.  Such,  too,  is  the 
religion  of  Buddha,  which  sent  out  missionaries 
very  early,  and  converted  the  people  of  Nepaul, 
Ceylon,  Persia,  Thibet,  China,  Japan,  and  other 
countries.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  sys- 
tem of  Zoroaster  was  also  a  missionary  religion, 
and  part  of  the  strength  of  Cyrus  consisted  in  the 
zeal  of  the  conquering  race  to  spread  its  religion 
among  other  nations. 

These  missionary  religions,  then,  we  will  call 
catholic,  that  is,  having  a  tendency  to  universal- 
ity. Of  the  ten  principal  religions  of  the  world, 
five  are  ethnic  and  five  catholic.     The  religions  of 


DESCRirTIOJ^    AND    CLASSIFICATION.  29 

Egypt,  Greece,  Hindostan,  Rome,  and  Scandinavia 
are  ethnic ;  those  of  Moses,  Buddha,  Zoroaster, 
Mohammed,  and  Jesus  are  cathohc. 

§  9.    Other  distinctions  bettveen  Ethnic  and  Catholic  Re- 
ligions. 

We  observe  at  once  that  another  distinction  ap- 
pea,rs,  —  the  ethnic  rehgions  all  grew  up  without 
any  prophet  as  their  founder ;  the  catholic  were 
each  founded  by  a  prophet.  The  first  class  were 
evolved  out  of  the  national  life  ;  the  second  class 
were  taught  by  an  inspired  soul.  This  distinction 
also  is  worth  noticing,  for  it  can  hardly  be  acci- 
dental. 

Comparing  again  the  ethnic  and  catholic  relig- 
ions, we  notice  yet  another  striking  distinction  be- 
tween them.  The  religions  founded  by  Moses, 
Buddha,  Zoroaster,  Mohammed,  and  Christ  all 
teach  with  more  or  less  distinctness  the  unity  of 
God,  recognizing  one  supreme  power  as  the  object 
of  worship.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ethnic  or 
evolved  religions,  as  those  of  India,  Egypt,  Greece, 
Rome,  and  Germany,  were  polytheisms,  with  very 
little  tendency  toward  unity.  That  the  three  re- 
ligions of  the  great  Semitic  family,  namely,  those 
of  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Mohammedanism, 
teach  the  unity  of  God  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
But  this  is  also  true  in  a  less  degree  of  the  doc- 
trines of  Buddha  and  Zoroaster. 


30  TEX    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Another  distinction  between  ethnic  and  catholic 
religions  is  the  greater  morality  and  humanity  in 
the  latter.  In  ethnic  religions  there  is  very  little 
connection  between  the  service  of  God  and  that  of 
man.  Religion,  in  them,  is  divorced  from  moral- 
ity. But  in  the  catholic  religions  the  opposite 
tendency  is  very  apparent,  though  in  different  de- 
grees, some  of  them  showing  much  more  of  it  than 
others. 

Thus  in  the  mythology  of  Greece,  as  found  in 
its  poets,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  gods  re- 
quired or  expected  righteousness  and  mercy  from 
their  votaries.  Not  possessing  these  qualities  them- 
selves, they  could  hardly  demand  them  of  others. 
Capricious,  willful,  jealous,  envious,  revengeful, 
licentious,  as  they  are  represented  to  be  by  the 
poets,  having  their  favorites  in  whom  they  take 
an  interest,  but  indifferent  to  the  general  welfare 
of  mankind ;  interfering  only  occasionally  in  hu- 
man affairs,  usually  from  some  personal  motive, 
there  is  little  moral  influence  to  be  derived  from 
their  worship. 

The  religion  of  Rome  was  essentially  a  state  re- 
ligion, concerning  itself  very  slightly  with  the  vir- 
tues of  private  life.  That  of  Scandinavia  made 
salvation  to  depend  on  courage  :  the  brave  sol- 
dier would  go  to  Valhalla,  and  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  Nifelheim,  or  the  under  world.  Of  the 
essentially  moral  defects  of  Brahmanism,  and  the 


DESCRIPTION   AND    CLASSIFICATION.  31 

exceptional  moral  merits  in  this  regard  of  the  re- 
ligion of  ancient  Egypt,  we  will  speak  hereafter. 
It  is  certain,  however,  that  religion  and  morality 
are  much  more  closely  united  in  the  prophetic  or 
catholic  relio-ions  than  in  the  ethnic.  Moses  and 
the  Prophets,  Mohammed,  Buddha,  Zoroaster,  Con- 
fucius, all  inculcate  a  serious  personal  law  of  good- 
ness. This  connection  reaches  its  full  harmony  in 
Christ's  placing  together  in  one  formula  the  duty 
of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  making  these  two 
forms  of  the  same  essential  love. 

All  of  these  systems  have  their  roots,  however, 
in  humanity  and  its  needs ;  all  have  contributed 
to  the  education  of  man,  and  all,  as  we  may  hope, 
are  finally  to  be  reconciled  and  harmonized  in  that 
ultimate  synthesis  of  faith,  the  universal  religion. 
It  will  be  one  object  of  this  work  to  endeavor 
to  see  how  this  universal  relio;ion  shall  arrive  ; 
whether  by  a  further  evolution  of  existing  relig- 
ions till  they  meet  on  a  common  plane,  or  by  the 
substitution  of  some  new  faith  wholly  different 
from  them  all. 

I  shall  accomplish  what  I  wish  to  do  in  this 
book  if  I  can  bring  myself  and  my  readers  into 
fuller  sympathy  with  all  forms  of  human  nature 
and  all  shades  of  human  belief.  Without  losing 
sight  of  the  difference  between  Truth  and  Error, 
we  may  sympathize  with  all  our  fellow-men  who 


32  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

are  feeling  after  God.  We  shall  have  the  spirit 
described  by  the  poet  when  he  speaks  of  the 
man :  — 

*'  Slave  to  no  sect,  who  takes  no  private  road, 
But  looks  through  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God; 
Pursues  that  chain  which  links  the  immense  design, 
Joins  Heaven  and  Earth,  joins  Mortal  and  Divine. 
Sees  that  no  being  any  bliss  can  know 
But  touches  some  above,  and  some  below; 
And  knows  where  Faith,  Law,  Morals,  all  began. 
All  end,  in  love  to  God  and  love  to  man. 
For  him  alone,  Hope  leads  from  goal  to  goal, 
And  opens  still,  and  opens  on  the  soul. 
Grasps  the  whole  world  of  Reason,  Life,  and  Sense 
In  one  close  system  of  Benevolence. 
Wide  and  more  wide,  the  o'erflowing  of  the  mind 
Takes  every  creature  in,  of  every  kind. 
Earth  smiles  around,  with  boundless  bounty  blest, 
And  heaven  beholds  its  image  in  his  breast." 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  33 


CHAPTER  n. 

SPECIAL    TYPES. LAW   OF   DEYELOPMEN^T. 

§  1.  Every  Religion  has  its  own  Special  Type.  Two  false 
Theories.  §  2.  Race  and  Nationality.  §  3.  Increased 
knowledge  of  Ethnic  Religions  during  the  last  Century. 
§  4.    Unity   and   Persistence    of   Type   in   Each    Religion. 

"^  §  5.  The  Typical  ideas  of  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  the 
Zend-Avesta,  and  the  Religion  of  Egypt.  §  6.  Corruptions 
and  Degradations  of  each  Religion  foreign  to  its  original 
Type.  §  7.  Affirmations  true ;  Negations  false.  §  8.  Sim- 
plistic Systems  are  Short-Lived.  Coordinated  antagonisms 
necessary  for  continued  Development. 

§  1.  Each  Religion  has  its  own  Special  Type.     Two  false 

Theories. 

^T^HE  subject  of  this  chapter  will  be  the  special 
character,  or  type  of  each  religion ;  that  which 
distinguishes  it  from  every  other,  and  enables  it 
to  do  a  special  work,  different  from  every  other ; 
that  which  constitutes  its  power  and  its  weakness, 
makes  it  acceptable  to  some  and  distasteful  to 
others,  develops  a  polar  force  which  attracts  or 
repels ;  its  one  special  note  which  allots  it  a  place 
in  the  great  harmony  of  the  coming  universal  re- 
ligion of  mankind. 

3 


34  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIOXS. 

I  wish  to  show  that  each  rehgion  has  this  type 
of  its  own,  to  which  it  adheres  as  long  as  it  lives 
and  acts  effectually,  and  also  how  we  determine 
what  this  type  is. 

Each  religion  has  a  type  of  its  own,  to  which  it 
adheres  during  its  whole  growth  and  development. 

Two  views  are  opposed  to  this:  (1.)  The  old 
Christian  theological  division,  which  put  in  one 
category  all  gentile  or  ethnic  religions,  calling 
them  pagan,  heathen,  idolatries,  superstitions. 
Because  of  this  view  no  attempt  was  made  to 
discover  the  character  of  each,  as  they  were  ac- 
counted equally  false  and  worthy  only  of  con- 
tempt. They  were  regarded,  not  as  natural 
growths  of  the  religious  nature,  but  as  mon- 
strous deformities,  proceeding  from  sin,  and  con- 
taining only  error.  (2.)  In  the  reaction  from  this 
extreme  some  minds  have  gone  to  the  opposite 
extreme.  The  reaction  from  the  view  which 
made  all  systems  of  faith  outside  of  Christendom 
equally  false,  has  produced  the  doctrine  that  they 
are  all  equally  true.  Similarities  and  resem- 
blances have  been  found,  and  diversities  ignored. 
The  ethnic  scriptures  have  been  searched  for  par- 
allels ;  these  have  been  put  side  by  side,  and  the 
conclusion  has  been  easily  drawn  that  all  these 
faiths  are  essentially  one,  —  possibly  some  a  little 
better  than  others,  —  but  all  teaching  the  same 
essential  truths  concerning  God  and  nature,  man 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  35 

and  morality,  sin  and  pardon,  immortality  and 
retribution. 

A  scientific  study  of  the  faiths  of  the  world  will 
show  both  these  two  theories  to  be  false.  It  will 
show  that  the  same  law  applies  to  religions  which 
is  found  to  prevail  in  the  other  departments  of 
nature ;  that  the  law  of  development  is  from  the 
homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  ;  from  chaos 
to  cosmos ;  from  monotony  to  variety ;  and  that 
the  great  order  and  harmony  of  the  universe  re- 
sults always  from  the  concord  of  these  varieties 
in  mutual  adaptation  and  cooperation.  It  would 
be  a  very  poor  concert  in  which  there  were  fifty 
instruments  all  striking  the  same  note  and  playing 
the  same  part.  The  harmony  of  the  universe, 
like  that  of  a  chorus  or  a  symphony,  consists  in 
the  consentino;  varieties  which  accord  in  one  divine 
union  of  agreeing  though  different  parts. 

That  this  is  so  can  be  only  proved  by  extensive 
study,  by  collecting  and  comparing  facts,  and 
making  the  induction  when  all  these  facts  have 
been  ascertained. 

The  law  of  man's  progress,  in  all  the  depart- 
ments of  human  activity,  has  been  from  monotony 
to  diversity,  and  by  combined  diversities  to  final 
cooperation  and  union.  (1.)  Monotony;  (2.)  Di- 
versity; (3.)  Harmony,  —  these  are  the  three  steps 
of  human  progress,  in  the  development  of  races, 
nations,  industries,  literature,  science,  art,  mental 
and  moral  character. 


36  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

§  2.  Race  and  Nationality. 

Some  philosophical  historians,  like  Buckle,  have 
ignored  wholly  the  fact  and  influence  of  race,  and 
attributed  all  the  varieties  of  mankind  to  the  in- 
fluence of  climate,  soil,  and  external  conditions. 
Others,  like  Knox,  have  said  that  "  race  is  every- 
thing." The  two  views  must  be  combined.  The 
power  of  climatic  conditions  is  no  doubt  great; 
but  many  facts  show  that  it  never  succeeds  in 
breaking  down  the  original  type  of  a  human 
family.  The  Jews,  Arabs,  Teutons,  Kelts,  Ne- 
groes, Mongols,  preserve  the  same  characters  for 
thousands  of  years,  under  wholly  different  exter- 
nal circumstances.  This  shows  that  there  was  an 
unexplained  divergent  tendency  implanted  in  man, 
which  caused  manhood  to  branch  into  races  just 
as  the  tree  branches  into  limbs,  and  then  subdi- 
vides again  into  other  smaller  limbs.  History 
shows  us  the  original  Aryan  race  in  Central  Asia, 
differentiating  itself,  according  to  this  law,  into 
seven  great  branches,  which  have  continued  to 
this  day,  viz. :  the  Hindu,  Persian,  Latin,  Greek, 
Keltic,  Teutonic,  and  Slavonic  varieties.  Another, 
the  Turanian,  has  divided  itself  into  the  Mongols, 
Tartars,  Turks,  Magyars.  Another,  the  Semitic, 
has  branched  into  the  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Phoe- 
nician, Jewish,  Carthaginian,  and  Arab  tribes.  All 
this  has  been  proved  by  linguistic  affinities. 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  37 

But  the  law  of  differentiation  does  not  exhaust 
itself  in  the  lower  ethnological  divisions.  It  works 
on  into  the  production  of  nationalities.  The  growth 
of  national  character  is  something  which  belongs 
even  to  modern  history.  We  may  be  said  to  have 
seen  this  differentiation  going  on  under  our  own 
eyes.  We  can  observe  in  modern  history  the  de- 
velopment of  such  distinct  human  types  as  the 
Italian,  Spaniard,  Frenchman,  Englishman.  A 
mixture  of  races,  under  new  conditions,  results  in 
a  new,  distinct  style  of  character  —  different  from 
either  —  as  when  oxygen  and  hydrogen  unite  and 
produce  water.  The  Englishman  and  Frenchman 
have  characters  of  their  own,  and  by  some  pro- 
cess of  assimilation  each  citizen  takes  on  more 
or  less  of  his  persistent  national  type.  Here,  in 
America,  we  see  an  American  type  gradually  tak- 
ing form,  which,  a  hundred  years  hence,  will  have 
become  another  distinct  and  self-maintaining  na- 
tional type  of  character. 

And  so,  too,  within  any  race  or  nation,  every 
new  access  of  inward  life  shows  itself  in  a  new 
opening  out  of  divergent  forms  of  mental  activity. 
So  it  was  in  Greece,  when  the  wonderful  Hellenic 
life-impulse  suddenly  developed  such  original  forms 
of  art  and  literature.  Greek  architecture,  with  its 
different  orders,  arrived.  Greek  statuary  came, 
and  rose  to  a  sudden  perfection.  Plato  and  Aris- 
totle developed  systems  of  philosophy  which  have 


38  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

persistently  dominated  human  belief  to  this  hour. 
Homer  invented  the  Epic.  Herodotus  and  Thucyd- 
ides  discovered  History ;  Pindar  the  Ode  ;  jEschy- 
lus  and  Sophocles,  the  Tragedy ;  Aristophanes, 
the  Comedy;  Demosthenes  and  others,  Oratory. 
What  a  branching  out  of  the  mind  was  here,  and 
how  these  forms  of  literature,  having  been  once 
developed,  have  persisted  to  this  hour ! 

The  same  may  be  said  of  human  arts  and  occu- 
pations. In  this  direction  we  call  it  "  the  division 
of  labor."  But  it  is  the  same  law  at  Avork  here. 
All  the  trades  and  professions  of  civilized  society 
are  differentiations  of  the  homogeneous  life  of  the 
savage,  who  does  a  little  of  everything,  into  the 
classified  life  of  society,  where  each  man  works  in 
his  own  branch  of  industry  and  so  cooperates  with 
the  rest  toward  the  harmony  of  the  whole.  Look 
at  a  great  city,  and  see  the  whole  combination 
which  has  grown  up,  not  by  any  will  of  man,  but 
by  the  working  of  a  steadfast  social  law,  which 
brings  together  just  so  many  mechanics,  so  many 
tradesmen,  so  many  professional  men,  so  many 
bankers,  engineers,  writers ;  and  so  builds  up  a 
system  of  harmonious  united  cooperation. 

I  have  gone  over  this  rather  detailed  description 
of  the  unfolding  of  human  life  from  monotony  to 
diversity,  and  from  diversity  to  harmony,  to  show 
that  there  is  nothing  to  surprise  us  if  we  find  that 
religion  also  pursues  the  same  course,  and  that 
each  one  develops  a  style  of  its  own. 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  39 

But  every  religion  has  its  accretions  of  incon- 
gruous material,  its  temporary  relapses  and  revi- 
vals, its  corruptions  and  reformations ;  and  we 
must  therefore  inquire  how  we  are  to  find  that 
one  special  quality  which  belongs  to  it  through  all 
these  chano-es.  How  shall  we  know  what  is  a  sren- 
uine  development  of  the  religion,  and  what  is  an 
addition  from  some  outside  influence  ? 

§  3.  Increased   knowledge  of  Ethnic  Religions. 

Fifty  years  ago,  it  would  have  been  almost  im- 
possible to  compare  the  religions  of  the  world  so 
as  to  detect  their  difTerence  and  resemblance.  At 
that  time  little  interest  had  been  taken  in  this 
study.  And  yet  it  would  seem  evident,  that  Chris- 
tianity which  proposes  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,  ought  to  be  interested  in  know- 
ino;  the  beliefs  and  habits  of  the  nations  which  it 
attempts  to  convert.  In  fact  the  growing  interest 
of  human  beings  in  each  other,  is  one  of  the  most 
striking;  marks  of  modern  civilization.  The  im- 
mense  impulse  given  to  the  progress  of  our  race 
in  modern  times  by  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
discovery  of  America,  the  Renaissance,  and  the 
Reformation  itself,  came  from  a  growing  interest 
of  man  in  man.  Printins;  was  invented  because 
writers  wished  to  be  read  by  larger  multitudes; 
they  no  longer  said  with  Horace :  "  I  hate  the 
profane  vulgar,  and    beg   them  not  to  read  my 


40  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

poems."  America  was  discovered,  because  of  the 
dim  desire  in  the  human  soul  to  know  all  that 
belonged  to  the  globe.  The  old  world  was  large 
enough  for  the  ancients;  the  greater  heart  of 
mankind  in  the  fifteenth  century  sent  explorers 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  across  the 
stormy  Atlantic  to  seek  new  lands  and  new  men. 
The  Renaissance  meant  the  intense  desire  which 
pervaded  Europe  to  know  what  men  thought,  said, 
wrote  in  the  old  world.  Every  one  studied  Greek 
that  he  might  read  Homer,  Plato,  Sophocles,  De- 
mosthenes. The  Reformation  was  a  revelation  of 
the  worth  of  every  man  as  man,  in  the  sight  of 
God.  It  taught  that  every  soul  could  go  directly 
to  God,  without  priest,  ritual,  or  altar  standing 
between.  The  discoveries  and  inventions  of  our 
time  have  not  only  brought  men  nearer  to  each 
other,  but  have  themselves  been  indications  of  the 
desire  of  men  to  be  brought  nearer  to  each  other. 
The  steamship,  railway,  telegraph,  testify  that  man 
every  day  becomes  more  interesting  to  man.  On 
every  such  invention  might  be  written  the  words, 
"  Sacred  to  man." 

Not  the  least  among  these  discoveries  have  been 
those  made  in  the  direction  of  human  lauLiruao-e. 
The  linguistic  discoveries  of  the  last  century  have 
added  a  new  world  to  the  domain  of  knowledge. 

The  whole  world  of  Sanskrit  literature  was  a 
sealed  book  to  Western  scholars,  till  the  time  of 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  41 

Sir  William  Jones.^  He  was  a  good  lawyer  and 
writer  on  law.  He  published  a  work  on  "  The 
Law  of  Bailments,"  which  alone,  according  to 
Judge  Story,  "  would  have  given  him  a  name 
unrivaled  in  the  common  law  for  accuracy,  learn- 
ing, and  power  of  analysis."  When  appointed  a 
judge  in  Bengal,  in  1783,  he  plunged  with  ardor 
into  Sanskrit  studies,  and  revealed  to  mankind  the 
magnificent  literature  of  ancient  India.  Since  his 
time  a  succession  of  European  scholars  have  fol- 
lowed in  this  path,  till  now,  by  their  translations 
and  commentaries,  we  can  know  as  much  of  Brah- 
manism  as  of  the  Religion  of  the  Jews. 

As  Sir  William  Jones  led  the  way  in  the  study 
of  Sanskrit,  Anquetil  du  Perron  in  like  manner 
opened  to  Europe  the  ancient  religion  of  Zoro- 
aster.^ The  Zend-Avesta,  which  he  was  the  first 
to  translate  into  any  European  language,  has  since 
been  studied  by  a  multitude  of  scholars,  like  Spie- 
gel, Haug,  and  others;  and  we  are  now  able  to 
understand  the  character  and  type  of  this  system, 
which,  through  the  great  Persian  Empire,  exer- 
cised so  great  an  influence  in  human  history. 
"  In  the  same  way  the  languages  which  contain 
the  Sacred  Books  of  Buddhism  have  become  known 

^  See,  for  the  account  of  Sir  William  Jones  and  his  work,  Ten 
Great  Religions,  Part  I.,  page  78, 

'-J  See  for  an  account  of  Anquetil  du  Perron,  Ten  Great  Religions, 
Part  I.,  page  178. 


42  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

to  Europe,  and  this  system  also,  in  its  origin  and 
development  can  now  be  understood.  And  out 
of  all  these  linguistic  studies  has  arisen  the  mod- 
ern science  of  comparative  philology,  which  has 
thrown  so  much  light  on  the  relationship  of  races 
and  nations.  We  now  know  more  about  the  source 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  than  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  themselves  knew.  The  same  roots 
and  grammatic  constructions  being  in  the  Sanskrit, 
ancient  Persian,  Greek,  Latin,  Keltic,  Teutonic, 
and  Slavic  languages,  show  that  these  seven  are 
all  branches  of  one  original  tongue ;  that  this  an- 
cient tongue,  which  long  ago  perished,  was  spoken 
by  a  people  inhabiting  the  high  plateau  of  Central 
Asia;  that  this  primitive  race  (who  have  left  no 
other  monument  of  their  existence  but  these  lan- 
guages derived  from  that  mother  speech)  were  a 
pastoral  people,  but  not  nomadic ;  that  they  had 
houses,  oxen,  horses,  sheep,  goats,  hogs,  and  do- 
mestic fowls ;  that  they  possessed  the  plow,  the 
corn-mill  and  various  tools,  the  decimal  numera- 
tion, doors,  windows,  and  fire-places  in  their  homes, 
and  that  their  year  was  of  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  days. 

How  do  we  know  all  this,  and  much  more  than 
this,  concerning  this  ancient  Aryan  race  ?  They 
have  left  no  record  of  their  existence,  except  the 
unwritten  airy  sounds,  the  fugitive  and  winged 
words,  which  afterwards  were   found   hidden   in 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  43 

later  languages,  like  fossils  in  some  old  strata  of 
antediluvian  rock.  We  know  it  by  the  modern 
science  of  comparative  philology.  That  shows  us 
certain  things  which  have  the  same  or  similar 
names  in  the  seven  derived  types  of  language. 
Thus,  when  we  learn  that  house  is  in  Sanskrit 
dama,  in  Zend  demana,  in  Greek  domos,  in  Latin 
domus,  in  Irish  dahm,  in  Slavonic  domu,  from 
which  root  also  comes  our  English  word  domes- 
tic,  we  may  be  pretty  sure  that  the  primitive 
Aryans  lived  in  houses,  and  called  them  by  a 
root-word  from  which  all  these  have  been  de- 
rived. When  we  learn  that  boat  was  in  Sanskrit 
nau,  in  Zend  nawah,  in  Greek  naus,  in  Latin  navis, 
in  old  L'ish  nai,  in  old  German  nawa,  we  learn 
that  they  knew  something  of  what  we  call  in 
English  ^laz^tical  matters,  or  ?iayigation. 

Li  the  same  way  we  have  learned  about  their 
emigrations,  —  that  the  two  oldest  branches  of  the 
Aryans  left  the  high  plateaus,  east  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  descended  from  Aryana ;  the  Hindus  into 
the  valleys  of  the  Indus ;  the  old  Persians  into 
Northern  Persia ;  that  the  Latins  preceded  the 
Greeks,  both  passing  south  of  the  Caspian  and 
Black  Seas,  and  poured  along  the  northern  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean ;  that  another  flood  of  emi- 
gration went  north  of  the  Caspian,  and  entered 
Europe  through  Russia ;  that  the  Keltic  races  led 
the  way,  followed  by  the  Teutonic  and  Scandina- 


44  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

vian  tribes,  and  finally  by  the  Slavic  people.  All 
this,  of  which  the  ancients  knew  nothing,  has  been 
made  known  to  us,  during  the  last  half  century, 
by  European  scholars.  If  you  had  asked  an  an- 
cient Greek  the  derivation  of  the  Greek  word 
thugateer,  daughter,  he  could  not  have  told  you. 
But  we  could  tell  him,  for  we  find  in  the  Sanskrit 
its  congener,  thuckteer,  which  means  both  daughter 
and  milkmaid,  —  showing  that  among  that  people 
it  was  the  custom  of  the  daughters  of  the  house  to 
milk  the  cows. 

All  this  and  much  more  has  come  from  the  stud- 
ies in  which  Sir  William  Jones  led  the  way. 

§  4.    Unity   and  Persistence   of   Type   in    each     great 

Religion, 

We  have  spoken  of  the  type  of  each  great  re- 
ligion. Is  there  any  rule  by  which  to  ascertain 
that  type  ?  In  every  faith  there  is  something 
transient,  and  something  permanent;  something 
essential,  and  much  that  is  accidental.  But,  in 
order  to  compare  two  or  more  systems  of  religion, 
it  is  necessary  to  be  able  to  distinguish  that  which 
is  essential  in  it  from  that  which  is  non-essential. 
Thus  idolatry  has  prevailed,  both  in  Brahmanism, 
Judaism,  and  Christianity ;  but  it  would  be  unfair 
to  contend  that  in  either  instance  these  were  the 
natural  and  legitimate  outcome  of  the  faith.  No 
support  for  idol-worship  can  be  found  in  the  sa- 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  45 

cred  books  of  either  sect;  neither  in  the  Old  or 
New  Testament,  nor  in  the  Vedas.  It  is  an  ex- 
traneous accretion,  not  a  natural  outgrowth.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  may  be  a  logical  develop- 
ment of  what,  in  the  origin  of  the  faith,  was  only 
a  germ.  Thus  Christianity  is  essentially  a  mis- 
sionary religion,  though  the  Church  at  Jerusalem 
was  at  first  reluctant  even  to  receive  the  Gen- 
tiles into  their  body.  It  seems  to  have  had  lit- 
tle sympathy  with  Paul's  efforts.  And  yet  it  is 
on  record  that  the  founder  of  the  religion,  on 
many  occasions,  expressed  his  interest  in  the  out- 
side world,  and  directed  his  disciples  to  go  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  The  same 
spirit  appeared  in  the  successful  attempts  to  con- 
vert the  German  tribes ;  and  in  the  more  dis- 
tant missionary  efforts  undertaken,  both  by  the 
Eoman  Catholic  and  Protestant  branches  of  the 
church,  which  are  kept  up  to  the  present  day. 
The  rule,  therefore,  which  may  be  laid  down  for 
determining  the  typical  character  of  each  religion 
can  be  thus  stated  :  "  Whatever  marks  are  found 
in  the  system  at  its  origin,  and  which  continue  with 
it  through  all  its  changes,  may  be  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  its  idea,  and  as  a  part  of  its  essence."  ^ 

Thus  considered,  it  will  be  found  that  each  of 
the  great  faiths  which  we  are  considering  has  its 

^  This  corresponds  to  the  famous  definition  of  Catholic  Unity  by 
Vincentius  Lirinensis:  Quod  ubique,  quod  semper,  quod  ah  omnibus. 


46 


TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 


one  essential  and  central  idea,  to  which  every- 
thing else  is  subordinate.  All  that  persists  in 
the  religion  is  in  harmony  with  this  idea,  and 
seems  to  grow  naturally  from  it. 

In  the  First  Part  of  this  work,  I  have  placed 
opposite  to  the  title-page  a  diagram  intended  to 
indicate  in  a  general  way  the  special  type  of  each 
of  the  "  Ten  Great  -Religions."  Eight  are  ar- 
ranged around  a  circle,  showing  how  they  fill  up 
the  rounded  circumference  of  religious  tendency. 
They  stand  opposed  and  related  thus  :  — 


Brahmanism. 

Spirit. 

Substance. 

Unity. 

Zoroaster. 

Freedom. 

Right  and  Wrong. 

Struggle. 

Scandinavia. 

Nature  as  Force. 

Independence. 

Battle. 

Buddhism. 

The  Individual. 
Nature  as  Law. 
Progress. 


Egypt. 

Body. 
Form. 
Variety. 

Islam. 

Fate. 

Divine  Will. 
Submission. 

Greece. 

Man. 

Beauty. 

Development. 

Confucius. 

Society. 
The  Past. 
Conservatism. 


This,  however,  is  a  suggestion,  which  is  liable  to 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  47 

be  altered  and  corrected  on  further  study.  Thus, 
it  might  be  more  accurate  to  consider  the  Teutonic 
faith  as  opposed  to  Buddhism,  and  the  activity  of 
the  Greek  mind  to  the  quiet  of  China.  These  last 
misht  then  stand  thus  :  — 


Scandinavia. 

Buddhism. 

Nature  as  Force. 

Nature  as  Law. 

Individualism. 

Association. 

Struggle. 

Repose. 

Greece. 

China. 

Development  from  within. 

Discipline  from  without, 

Progress. 

Conservatism. 

Beauty. 

Order. 

These  differences  originate  in  race,  and  are  as 
permanent  as  race.  There  is  no  more  persistent 
factor  in  human  affairs  than  that  of  race.  Nation- 
alities grow  and  decay,  but  the  social  tendencies 
remain.  After  the  Roman  empire  had  fallen,  the 
race  tendency  to  strenuous  organization  reap- 
peared in  the-  Roman  Catholic  Church.  It  was 
Roman  imperialism  revived,  with  the  Pope  for  an 
emperor.  The  vast  Keltic  emigration  from  Asia, 
which  had  swept  over  all  of  Europe  before  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Teutonic  tribes,  had  impressed  their 
qualities  on  all  the  nations  derived  from  them. 
One  of  these  qualities  was  readiness  to  submit  to  a 
chief,  a  tendency  which  resulted  in  Cassarism  and 
the  Papacy,  and  is  seen  at  this  time  in  loyalty  to 


48  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

leaders  in  politics  and  religion.  Wherever  the 
Keltic  blood  is  found  to-day,  these  traits  manifest 
themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Teutonic 
race,  in  all  its  ramifications,  tended  to  independ- 
ent thought  and  action,  to  individual  rights  and 
personal  freedom.  Hence  Protestantism  origi- 
nated with  the  German  races,  and  holds  its  own 
now  only  among  those  nations  who  are  descended 
from  that  stock.  The  strength  of  Protestant- 
ism is  in  Germany,  Holland,  Norway,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  England,  and  the  United  States.  In 
these  nations  the  German  blood  predominates. 
The  strength  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  in 
these  other  nations  who  are  most  permeated  by 
the  Keltic  blood :  France,  Ireland,  the  Latin 
states,  and  their  descendants  in  South  America. 
Ancient  Greece  had  a  much  smaller  tincture  of 
this  blood  than  Italy,  and  thus  it  offered  a  con- 
stant resistance  to  Roman  imperialism  ;  and  the 
Greek  Church  of  modern  times,  next  to  Protestant- 
sm,  is  the  chief  antagonist  to  the  Roman  Papacy. 
How  races  originate  no  one  is  able  to  say,  nor 
is  it  important  to  decide.  This  differentiation  of 
mankind  into  tribes  may  have  come  from  some  law 
of  variation  originally  implanted  by  the  side  of  the 
law  of  heredity.  All  the  members  of  the  great 
Aryan  stock,  Hindus,  Persians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
Kelts,  Germans,  and  Slavs,  have  some  common 
marks  in  which  they  agree.     All  the  Semitic  vari- 


1 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  49 

eties  are  united  by  similar  common  resemblances. 
This  appears  in  their  social  customs,  their  personal 
qualities,  and  their  religions.  Among  the  Semitic 
nations  God  is  seen  as  a  personal  unity  of  will. 
Among  the  Aryans  he  appears  as  unity  in  variety. 
Among  the  Turanians,  the  unity  is  lost  in  the  va- 
riety. The  Turanians  (Mongols,  Tartars,  etc.) 
have  therefore  never  succeeded  in  founding  any 
great  religion,  for  they  have  borrowed  Buddhism 
from  the  Hindu-Aryans.  Pure  polytheism  can- 
not hold  together;  it  is  naturally  disintegrated  into 
a  multitude  of  separate  modes  of  worship,  in  which 
each  God  is  independent  of  every  other.  The 
polytheism  of  Egypt  was  rooted  in  a  mysterious 
unity  behind  the  variety.  The  polytheism  of 
Greece  had  a  supreme  council  of  deities  on  Olym- 
pus, among  whom  Zeus  was  the  omnipotent  chief. 
The  tendency  of  Aryan  piety  was  away  from 
polytheism  toward  pantheism ;  that  of  the  Tura- 
nian belief  was  in  the  opposite  direction,  from 
polytheism  toward  atheism.  The  first  of  these 
tendencies  is  seen  among  the  Hindus  and  Greeks ; 
the  last  in  the  systems  of  Confucius  and  Buddha. 
Judaism  and  Mohammedanism  regard  the  Deity  as 
the  one  alone,  the  Supreme  Will,  above  nature  as 
its  maker  and  ruler.  Christianity  was  able  to  be- 
come a  universal  religion  by  effecting  a  harmony 
between  Aryan  and  Semitic  thought,  in  its  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity.     The  meaning  of  the  Trinity 

4 


60  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

is  unity  in  variety,  the  unity  of  spirit  in  the  vari- 
ety of  nature  ;  God,  not  only  above  all,  but  also 
through  all,  and  in  us  all.  The  Father  was  re- 
garded as  the  creative  power  above  nature,  the  Son 
as  the  divine  intelligence  within  nature,  and  the 
Spirit  as  the  life  in  the  soul  of  man.  The  practical 
object  of  this  doctrine  was  to  make  possible  a 
union  of  Semitic  and  Aryan  thought.  As  a  formu- 
lated doctrine  it  is  now  outworn,  and  its  need  is 
gone.  But  at  the  time  when  it  came,  it  no  doubt 
met  a  want,  and  did  an  important  work.  By  modi- 
fying the  strict  unity  of  Judaism,  it  satisfied  the 
needs  of  Aryan  thought.  But  if  we  apply  to  this 
doctrine  our  rule,  as  stated  above,  we  shall  see  that 
it  is  no  essential  part  of  Christianity,  since  it  was 
not  found  in  the  system  in  its  origin  in  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  and  has  never  been 
universally  accepted  by  the  church. 

Four  great  religions,  which  a  century  ago  were 
virtually  unknown  to  Western  scholars,  have  in  our 
time  been  fully  revealed.  The  work  of  Sir  William 
Jones,  of  Anquetil  du  Perron,  of  Champollion,  and 
of  Burnouf,  has  been  continued  by  a  host  of  schol- 
ars. We  now  are  prepared  to  examine  and  under- 
stand the  religions  of  India,  of  Persia,  the  Bud- 
dhism of  the  East,  and  the  teachings  so  long  hid- 
den in  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt. 

But  unless  we  can  obtain  some  clue  to  the  ger- 
minal and  radical  idea  of  each  system,  our  minds 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  51 

will  be  dissipated  in  a  vast  multitude  of  details. 
Somehow  we  must  find  our  way  to  the  centre,  and 
seen  from  that  point  all  will  become  clear  and  har- 
monious. 

§  5.   The  Typical   ideas  of  Brahmanism,  Buddhism^  the 
Zend-Avesta,  and  the  Religion  of  Egypt. 

(a.)  The  Essential  Idea  in  Brahmanism.  It 
seems  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  most  funda- 
mental conviction  in  Brahmanism  is  the  reality  of 
spirit,  and  that  spirit  is  the  only  reality.  All  ex- 
istence is  phenomenal,  and  is  rooted  in  spirit,  which 
is  essence.  Spirit  is  substance  ;  it  is  one  ;  it  is  the 
Para-Brahm  :  above  all  things,  through  all  things, 
the  reality  in  all  things. 

In  the  "Ten  Great  Religions,"  Part  I.,  pages 
116-123,  I  have  quoted  from  the  ancient  Hindu 
philosophy  passages  which  support  this  view.  In- 
numerable others  might  be  found  to  the  same  ef- 
fect. The  Vedanta  philosophy  makes  the  Deity 
say,  "  I  am  the  great  Brahma,  eternal,  pure,  free, 
one,  constant,  happy,  existing  without  end.  He 
who  ceases  to  contemplate  other  things,  retires 
into  solitude,  annihilates  his  own  life  ;  he  under- 
stands that  spirit  is  the  one  and  the  eternal.  The 
wise  man  annihilates  all  the  things  of  sense,  and  to 
him  they  do  not  exist."  "'  The  world,"  says  San- 
kara,  "  is  Not-Being.  It  is  appearance  without  re- 
ality, a  delusive  show."   The  Vedanta  says :  "From 


52  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

the  highest  state  of  Brahma  to  the  lowest  condi- 
tion of  a  straw,  all  is  illusion."  The  soul  is  a  part 
of  God  himself. 

Such  was  ancient  Brahmanism ;  it  was  faith  in 
pure  spirit.  Its  worship  was  contemplation  and  ad- 
oration. The  idolatry  and  polytheism  which  came 
afterward  make  no  essential  part  of  it,  though  they 
came  by  a  natural  reaction  from  an  extreme  spir- 
itualism. 

It  was  the  worship  of  spirit,  spirit  as  seen  in  all 
nature.  Its  hymns  and  prayers,  its  epics,  its  phi- 
losophy, were  all  intensely  spiritual.  The  joy  of  a 
Hindoo  in  the  beginning  was  worship ;  and  his  joy 
to-day  is  Avorship.  The  tendency  of  the  system 
has  always  been  towards  pantheism,  making  God 
the  only  reality,  and  absorption  in  him  the  highest 
good.  Hence  it  has  run  largely  into  abstract 
thought  and  contemplation.  It  produced  the  first 
anchorites,  who  wished  to  shuffle  off  the  flesh  by 
the  most  extreme  mortification  of  the  body. 

The  same  tendency  to  spiritual  worship  exists 
unchanged  in  the  Hindu  mind  to-day.  That 
curious  phenomenon,  the  Brahmo  sect,  is  a  testi- 
mony to  the  permanence  of  this  type.  This  body 
originated  with  Ram-Mohun-Roy,  a  very  noble 
Hindu  reformer.  His  object  was  to  persuade  his 
countrymen  to  forsake  idolatry  and  become  mono- 
theists,  and  he  appealed  to  their  ancient  scriptures 
to  prove  that  their  uncorrupted  religion  was  a  pure 
monotheism. 


SPECIAL   TYPES.  53 

An  offshoot  of  this  system  is  that  of  which  Chim- 
der  Sen  is  the  head.  His  doctrine  is  that  all  the 
great  religions  of  the  world  are  one.  He  speaks 
with  profound  respect  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  chief 
teacher  of  the  human  race,  above  all  other  proph- 
ets. I  quote  a  passage  from  a  recent  discourse  of 
Chunder  Sen  :  — 

"  Remember  your  creed,  one  God,  one  Scripture, 
and  one  family  of  prophets.  Love  the  one  true 
God,  and  worship  him  every  day.  By  daily  wor- 
ship make  your  lives  holy.  Attain  communion 
with  the  saints  of  heaven  inwardly  in  your  minds. 
Eat  their  flesh  and  drink  their  blood,  and  turn 
your  bodies  into  vessels  of  holiness.  In  your  lives 
show  the  reconciliation  of  perfect  wisdom,  perfect 
asceticism,  perfect  love,  perfect  devotion,  perfect 
conscience,  perfect  joy,  and  perfect  holiness.  Be 
not  satisfied  with  the  fraction  of  any  one  virtue. 
Do  not  covet  the  prosperity  and  pleasure  of  this 
world.  Preserve  your  lives  with  the  food  that 
comes  from  mendicancy.  Be  happy  in  others'  hap- 
piness, and  sorry  in  others'  sorrow.  Regard  all 
mankind  as  one  family.  Hate  not,  nor  regard  as 
aliens,  men  of  other  castes  and  other  religions.  Be 
ascetics,  but  live  in  the  world  in  the  midst  of  other 
men,  and  let  them  live  in  you.  And  let  both  them 
and  yourselves  live  conjointly  in  God.  There  is 
salvation  in  nnity,  and  peace  in  unity.  Go  in  all 
directions,  east   and  west,  north  and  south,    and 


54  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

preach  the  New  Dispensation.  Let  no  regard  for 
men  cause  you  to  mix  with  the  dispensation  what 
does  not  belong  to  it.  If  any  men  meet  you  as 
enemies,  let  the  peace  of  your  prayers  descend  on 
their  heads.  Be  poor  and  patient  in  spirit.  Con- 
quer contention  with  peace.  Let  peace  and  purity 
flow  into  the  place  where  you  go." 

The  following  "  Garland  of  a  Hundred  Names  " 
is  a  list  of  titles  of  the  Almighty  adopted  by  the 
New  Dispensation  as  suitable  to  their  theistic  wor- 
ship, the  titles  of  the  Creator  as  taught  by  eclecti- 
cism :  — 

God,  Lord,  Holy,  Great,  Father,  First  Cause, 
Supreme  Spirit,  Almighty,  All-Merciful,  Saviour, 
Friend  of  the  Poor,  Moral  Governor,  Deliverer  of 
the  fallen.  Absolute  Substance,  Primary  Force,  Life 
of  life.  Bodiless,  Formless,  Divinity,  Adorable,  An- 
cient, Giver  of  success.  Dispenser,  Triumphant, 
Heavenly  King,  Master,  Eternal,  Infinite,  Self- 
caused,  Self-existent,  Resplendent,  Excellent,  Om- 
nipotent, Omnipresent,  Omniscient,  Ocean  of  Love, 
Fountain  of  Joy,  Captain  of  the  vessel  of  life.  De- 
stroyer of  danger.  Extinguisher  of  sorrow.  Lord  of 
hosts.  Abode  of  Beauty,  Charmer  of  the  soul. 
Awful,  Conqueror  of  Death,  Providence,  Teacher, 
Creator,  Preserver,  Immaculate,  One,  All-witness, 
Smiling  Mother,  Light  of  Truth,  Sea  of  Nectar, 
Necklace  of  the  devotee,  Crown  of  the  martyr, 
Glory  of  the  saint,  All-Seeing,  Beautiful  Eye,  De- 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  55 

fender  of  the  weak,  Blissful,  Self-manifest,  Con- 
soler of  the  distressed.  Healer  of  the  soul  diseased, 
Everlasting,  Chastiser  of  the  wicked.  Perfect,  Inex- 
orable Judge,  Light  of  the  eye.  Supreme  Intelli- 
gence, Guide,  Priceless  treasure.  Heaven  of  peace, 
Without  a  second.  Enchanter  of  the  world,  Queen 
of  the  Universe,  True,  Gratifier  of  pure  desires, 
Household  Deity,  Bread  of  life.  Endless  Space, 
Supporter  of  the  ascetic.  Infinite  Love,  Water  of 
the  thirsty  heart,  Sovereign  of  all  nations,  Joy  of 
the  worshipper.  Sender  of  prophets.  Eternal  scrip- 
ture. Harmony,  Inspirer,  Matchless,  Ever-living, 
Immanent,  Invisible,  Unfathomable,  Comforter,  Ar- 
chitect, Sun  of  Righteousness,  I  am. 

In  our  time,  when  so  much  of  Western  Philos- 
ophy has  committed  itself  to  a  sensationalism 
which  makes  the  very  idea  of  the  Infinite  and 
Eternal  world  an  impossibility,  it  is  a  refreshment 
to  find  this  majestic  Indian  literature,  beginning  a 
thousand  years  before  our  era,  raising  its  solemn 
and  venerable  voice  in  testimony  that  eternity  is 
the  great  realitj^,  and  that  the  human  soul  is  made 
to  believe  in  the  living  God.  This  faith  is  not  any- 
thing artificial,  but  a  native  instinct.  The  great 
Hindu  race  stands  in  the  world  to  testify,  through 
thousands  of  years,  that  man  belongs  not  only  to 
time  and  sense,  but  to  that  also  which  transcends 
all  the  things  which  are  seen  and  temporal.  This 
is  the  place  of  India  and  of  the  great  Brahmanic 
beliefs  in  the  history  of  religion. 


56  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

(b.)  The  Essential  Idea  in  the  Worship)  of  Egypt. 
The  ancient  Egyptians  covered  the  walls  of  their 
temples  and  tombs  with  pictures  and  carved  in- 
scriptions. They  also  wrote  down  the  details  of 
their  lives  on  innumerable  rolls  made  of  papyrus. 
They  carved  on  the  marble  casings  of  the  pyra- 
mids, on  the  walls  of  public  buildings,  on  the  obe- 
lisks and  columns,  the  deeds  of  their  kings,  the 
writings  of  their  poets,  and  their  Sacred  Hymns ; 
every  spot  of  wall  was  covered  with  this  indelible 
writing.  The  Hindus,  hving  for  eternity,  cared 
little  for  the  events  of  time,  and  had  no  historical 
records.  The  Egyptians,  with  an  exactly  opposite 
tendency  of  thought,  seemed  to  consider  every 
earthly  event  as  providential  and  therefore  sacred. 
So  they  recorded  everything.  But  their  writing 
was  unintelligible  to  all  but  themselves.  Neither 
the  Greeks  nor  Romans,  while  masters  of  Egypt, 
were  able  to  read  this  writing.  It  appeared  to 
them  an  unattainable  secret,  a  hopeless  mystery. 
And  so  it  continued  till  the  younger  ChampoUion, 
born  in  1790,  made  the  greatest  discovery  of  mod- 
ern times  in  the  domain  of  history,  by  decipher- 
ing and  translating  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics. 
Numerous  scholars  have  followed  in  the  path 
opened  by  him ;  and  now  the  hieroglyphics  of 
ancient  Egypt  may  be  translated  with  as  much 
certainty  as  the  writings  of  the  classic  authors. 

The  religion  of  India  saw  God   pervading  all 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  57 

nature,  but  especially  to  be  found  dwelling  in  the 
soul  of  man.  Union  with  him  was  union  with 
Infinite  Spirit,  —  the  substance  of  the  Universe, 
the  only  reality.  Time  and  the  things  of  earth 
are  of  no  account,  —  only  Eternity  is  true. 

But  the  Egyptian  religion  looked  for  God  in  the 
opposite  direction ;  in  time  and  space ;  in  bodily 
organization ;  in  the  w^onder  and  mystery  of  all 
forms  of  life ;  in  the  instincts  of  animals.  Animal- 
worship  merely  meant  the  sight  of  God's  thoughts 
as  embodied  in  each  creature.  Embalming  was 
preserving  the  body  to  receive  the  soul  once  more 
after  its  long  transmigration  ;  at  least,  such  is  the 
opinion  of  some  competent  judges.  No  nation 
ever  laid  such  stress  on  the  hereafter  as  the 
Egyptians.  Their  whole  religion  seemed  to  re- 
volve in  a  circle  around  the  life  to  come. 

This  life  to  come  was  a  continuation  of  bodily 
existence,  an  extension  of  time  and  space  relations 
into  another  world.  It  involved  a  loug  series  of 
transmigrations  into  various  animal  forms ;  a  long 
struo-srle  with  a  succession  of  demoniac  enemies; 
a  kind  of  Pilgrim's  Progress  toward  a  final  Para- 
dise. 

Every  organized  existence  was  to  the  ancient 
Egyptian  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine  Idea.  If 
India  saw  God  wholly  above  Nature,  as  an  abso- 
lutely Supernatural  Being,  —  Egypt  beheld  him 
immersed  in  Nature,  —  a  perpetual  Creator,  pour- 


58  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

inc'"  life  and  beauty  into  all  visible  things.  And 
the  mission  of  Egypt  in  religious  history  was  to 
develop  this  idea  of  the  one  Divine  Life  in  all 
natural  existence. 

No  doubt  the  conception  of  one  Supreme  Spirit- 
ual Being,  above  time  and  space,  made  a  part  of 
this  system.  But  it  was  the  esoteric  element,  the 
hidden  mystery,  the  secret  belonging  to  the  inner 
circle  of  adepts.  From  the  popular  worship  it  was 
reserved  by  the  priests,  as  something  too  abstract 
for  the  sensuous  temperament  of  the  people.  In 
this  race  the  African  element  predominated  so 
largely  that  their  religion  tended  constantly  to 
embody  itself  in  outward  facts  and  forms ;  in 
temples,  processions,  pictures,  and  the  worship  of 
Gods  with  human  qualities. 

(c.)  The  Essential  Idea  in  the  Worship  of  Zoro- 
aster. The  radical  thought  with  the  great  prophet 
of  Persia  is  that  of  the  eternal  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,^  and  the  duty  of  contending  for 
the  right  against  wrong.  The  Gods  and  good  men 
are  on  one  side  in  this  great  battle  of  time,  the 
demons  and  bad  men  on  the  other.  The  soldier 
of  Ormazd  contends  against  Ahriman  by  good 
thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  actions. 

This  is  the  warlike  element  which  reappears 
from  time  to  time  in  all  religions.  According  to 
this  view  religion  is  not  rest,  but  battle.     But  it  is 

*  See  Ten  Great  Religions,  Part  I.,  pp.  132,  133. 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  59 

a  battle  with  invisible  foes,  fought  with  no  earthly 
weapons,  but  with  the  free  power  of  a  righteous 
soul. 

(d.)  The  Essential  Idea  of  Buddhism.  The  sys- 
tem of  which  Sakya-Muni  was  the  founder,  is  at 
present  a  vast  mass  of  metaphysics,  ritual,  and  out- 
ward forms.  But  its  central  idea  is  very  simple. 
It  is  as  moral  in  its  way  as  that  of  Zoroaster.  But 
it  is  not  a  moral  struggle  for  right  against  wrong, 
in  the  hope  of  a  triumph  of  good.  It  is  simple 
obedience  to  natural  law.  It  is  first  discovering 
and  then  submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  universe. 
In  this  system  the  nature  of  things  is  the  supreme 
power,  and  this  nature  of  things  is  on  the  side  of 
goodness.  Every  good  act  is  rewarded,  every  bad 
one  punished,  with  inevitable  certainty.  Every 
time  one  does  right  he  goes  up,  whenever  he  does 
wrong  he  goes  down. 

To  sum  up  briefly  these  types,  we  may  say :  — 

1.  Brahmanism  is  faith  in  spirit,  as  the  only  sub- 
stance, —  a  substance  which  gives  unity  to  all  phe- 
nomena. 

2.  The  faith  of  ancient  Egypt  was  at  the  oppo- 
site pole  of  thought.  It  saw  the  divine  in  variety, 
not  unity ;  in  body,  not  spirit ;  in  form,  not  sub- 
stance. 

3.  The  Scandinavian  religion  saw  the  divine  in 
nature,  appearing  as  force,  making  life  a  battle 
and  placing  morality  in  self-reliance. 


60  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

4.  The  antagonist  system  to  this  was  that  of 
Greece,  which  saw  the  divine  manifested,  not  in 
nature,  but  in  man,  having  its  essence  in  the  beau- 
tiful and  its  moraUty  in  natural  human  develop- 
ment. 

5.  The  system  of  Zoroaster  was  the  worship  of 
free  will  in  the  creator  and  the  created,  and  its 
moralitv  consisted  in  the  free  stru<»:o;le  of  rio-ht 
with  wrong,  inspired  by  the  hope  of  an  ultimate 
triumph  of  good  over  evil. 

6.  I  find  the  opposite  j)ole  to  this  system  in  that 
of  Mohammed.  Islam  means  the  worship  of  one 
God  as  supreme  will,  whose  law  is  fate,  and  whose 
service  is  submission. 

7.  Buddhism  is  the  deification  of  the  human 
soul,  saved  by  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  na- 
ture. Buddhism  makes  morality  consist  in  prog- 
ress, by  obedience  to  natural  law  as  revealed  by 
Buddha. 

8.  The  religrion  of  Confucius  is  reverence  for  the 
past,  and  his  morality  is  conformity  to  the  highest 
proprieties  and  conventions,  as  established  by  supe- 
rior persons. 

9.  The  essence  of  Judaism  is  the  worship  of  one 
Supreme  Spiritual  Being,  the  Maker  and  Lord  of 
all  things.  Its  morality  is  obedience  to  his  law, 
which  consists  in  lovins:  and  servinoj  God  and 
man. 


SPECIAL   TYPES.  61 

§  6.   Corruptions  and  Degradations  of  each  Religion^  for- 
eign to  its  original  type. 

When  we  succeed  in  grasping  and  holding  the 
radical  motive  of  each  system  of  belief,  we  are 
able  to  see  that  much  historically  connected  with 
it  is  an  adventitious  accretion.  Such  phenomena 
are  either  not  to  be  found  in  the  religion  in  its 
origin ;  or  else  have  not  continued  to  belong  to 
it  during  its  subsequent  development.  No  doubt 
there  is  a  reason  why  they  came.  They  are  not 
to  be  considered  as  accidental.  Nevertheless  they 
do  not  belong  to  the  type,  but  are  corruptions  or 
unessential  additions  to  it. 

Thus  I  do  not  consider  as  essential  to  Brahman- 
ism  the  caste  system,  idolatry,  the  Indian  Triad, 
the  incarnations  of  Vishnu  or  its  developed  poly- 
theism. None  of  these  appear  in  the  Vedas.  The 
powers  of  Nature  are  there  worshipped,  but  as 
manifestations  of  something  deeper,  namely,  the 
spirit  which  pervades  all  Nature.  These  may  be 
shown  to  be  the  loo-ical  errowths  out  of  an  extreme 
and  one-sided  spiritualism,  but  do  not  belong  to  its 
essential  character. 

In  fact,  we  may  say,  generally,  that  the  corrup- 
tions and  degradations  of  each  religion  are  not  the 
natural  outcome  of  its  type,  but  of  the  one-sided 
and  exclusive  development  of  that  type.  Monas- 
ticism  belongs  to  the  type  neither  of  Buddhism 


62  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

nor  Christianity,  but  consists  in  making  the  sav- 
ing of  the  individual  the  end  of  all  being.  So  the 
caste  system  and  hierarchal  authority  in  Brah- 
manism,  in  the  religion  of  Egypt  and  in  mediaBval 
Christianity  belong  not  necessarily  to  either  sys- 
tem ;  but  they  are  the  logical  result  of  making  the 
worship  of  God  the  main  duty  of  man ;  that  is,  of 
the  assumption  that  man  was  made  for  religion, 
and  not  religion  for  man.  For  as  soon  as  we  yield 
to  this  assumption,  the  all-important  question  be- 
comes this  :  "  What  is  the  right  service  of  God  ?  " 
And  this  throws  all  the  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  priesthood,  whose  business  it  is  to  see  that 
worship  is  ritualistically  correct. 

§  7.  Affirmations  True;  Negations  False. 

Of  all  the  systems  of  belief  which  have  had  a 
widespread  hold  on  mankind,  this  may  be  posited : 
that  they  are  commonly  true  in  what  they  affirm ; 
false  in  what  they  deny.  The  error  in  every  theory 
is  usually  found  in  its  denials,  that  is,  in  its  limita- 
tions. What  it  sees,  is  substantial  and  real ;  what 
it  does  not  see  is  a  mark  only  of  its  own  limited 
vision.  The  ground  of  this  principle  is  that  what 
we  affirm  is  usually  the  result  of  our  knowledge ; 
while  what  we  deny  merely  indicates  our  igno- 
rance. 

The  best  illustration  of  this  principle  of  the 
essential  truth  of  the  affirmative  side  of  any  sys- 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  63 

tern  of  thought,  and  that  errors  are  usually  in 
denials,  may  be  found  in  the  ideas  of  the  relio-ions 
which  we  are  examining. 

Brahmanism,  as  we  have  seen,  is  faith  in  spirit 
as  the  only  substance,  which  gives  unity  to  all 
thinsrs. 

In  asserting  this,  it  bears  witness  to  a  great  and 
eternal  truth.  The  substantial  reality  of  spirit,  as 
below  all  things,  —  substance  in  all  forms,  unity 
in  all  variety,  —  this  is  the  great  reality  which  it 
was  the  mission  of  the  Hindoo  mind  to  discover 
and  declare,  and  which  it  knows  and  declares 
to-day  with  as  strong  a  conviction  as  at  first. 
Through  all  its  sacred  and  profane  literature,  — 
in  the  Vedas  and  the  Upanishads,  the  Baghavat- 
geeta  and  Sakoontala,  the  great  epics  and  the  great 
philosophies,  —  there  runs  forever  this  stream  of 
faith  in  the  absolute  and  supreme  reality  of  spirit. 

But  when  Brahmanism  left  this  safe  ground  of 
assertion  and  affirmation,  and  went  on  to  deny  the 
reality  of  time  and  space,  soul  and  body,  nature 
and  human  personality  —  calling  all  these  Maya  or 
illusion  —  it  committed  its  fatal  error,  from  which 
many  evil  consequences  have  proceeded.  In  the 
interest  of  piety,  it  lost  the  basis  of  morality ;  in 
its  aspiration  toward  the  unseen  and  eternal  it 
weakened  the  springs  of  human  energy,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  that  effeminacy  of  temperament 
which  has  now,  during  many  hundreds  of  years, 


64  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

made  this  great  race  the  slaves  first  of  native 
tyrants,  and  afterward  of  Mohammedan  or  Euro- 
pean rulers. 

Buddhism  was  a  reaction  from  this  one-sided 
Hindu  spiritualism.  It  came  to  assert  the  reality 
of  the  human  soid,^  and  of  the  external  universe. 
These  two  assertions,  or  affirmations,  are  its  great 
merit.  Like  Brahmanism  it  is  true  in  what  it 
sees;  false  in  what  it  omits  to  see.  It  is  right 
in  asserting  nature,  wrong  in  omitting  spirit; 
right  in  affirming  time,  wrong  in  denying  eter- 
nity; right  in  positing  the  finite  form,  wrong  in 
neglecting  the  infinite  essence ;  wise  in  its  sight 
of  creation,  foolish  in  its  ignorance  of  a  Creator; 
and  as  Brahmanism  generated  an  imperfect  civili- 
zation by  its  ultra-spiritualism,  so  Buddhism  gen- 
erates an  imperfect  civilization  by  its  ultra-natu- 
ralism. Both  of  them  are  arrested  civilizations, 
lacking '  the  principle  of  continued  progress. 

§  8.  Simplistic  systems  are  short-lived  in  their  vital  en- 
ergy. Antagonisms  necessary  for  a  long-continued 
development. 

A  single,  one-sided  view  of  life  soon  exhausts  its 
power  of  developing  character.  Antagonisms  of 
thought  are  necessary  to  progress;  and  the  most 
wonderful  developments  of  national  power  and  in- 

^  The  current  opinion,  that  Buddhism  denies  the  reality  of  the 
soul,  will  be  considei'od  hereafter. 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  65 

tellect  are  brief  and  evanescent  if  not  sustained  by 
this  continued  antagonism  of  opposing  but  not 
contradictory  ideas. 

This,  for  example,  appears  again  in  two  other 
forms  of  rapid  national  development,  both  won- 
derfully exuberant  for  a  time,  though  springing 
from  very  opposite  religious  ideas,  I  mean  those 
of  Greece  and  of  Islam.  I  have  already  spoken  of 
the  rapid  rise  and  sudden  decline  of  the  Hellenic 
genius.  During  about  two  hundred  years  this 
splendid  fire  flamed  up,  and  then  faded  away.  So 
it  was  with  the  equally  wonderful,  though  not  so 
original,  blossoming-out  of  Arab  art,  science,  and 
literature.  The  passage  of  two  or  three  centuries 
saw  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  this  strange  phe- 
nomenon. 

The  idea  in  the  Greek  religion,  which  was  one 
source  of  Greek  development,  was  the  sight  of 
something  divine  in  human  nature.  The  Greek 
gods  were  men,  human  beings,  divine  men  and  wo- 
men, living  only  a  little  way  off,  on  the  summit  of 
Olympus,  occupied  with  human  loves  and  hatreds, 
f eastings  and  jests,  wars,  contrivances,  deceptions. 
They  were  in  no  sense  supernatural,  hardly  alarm- 
ing. They  interfered  but  seldom  in  human  af- 
fairs, and  if  one  of  them  became  angry  with  a 
mortal,  some  other  god  was  sure  to  step  in  and  be- 
friend him.  Each  one  represented  some  human 
quality  carried  to  its  perfection  :   human  wisdom. 


66  TEN   GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

courage,  beauty,  skill,  adroitness,  genius,  geniality  ; 
these  found  their  apotheosis  in  Pallas- Athene,  in 
Ares,  Aphrodite,  Hephaistos,  Dionusos,  Phoebus- 
Apollo. 

In  this  anthropomorphism  there  is  something 
true.   There  is  a  divine  element  in  human  nature  ; 
there  is  something  godlike  in  man.     Besides  the 
instincts  which  he  shares  with  the  animals,  that 
which   is   essentially  human   is   something  which 
makes  him  akin  to  Deity.     Man  is  the  son  of  God, 
and  amid  all  his  sin,  folly,  ignorance,  and  weak- 
ness, the  sparks  of  the  divine  fire  are  never  wholly 
quenched.    He  is  capable  of  aspiration,  generosity, 
courage  to  defy  death  in  a  good  cause,  capable  of 
devoting  himself  to  truth,  and  to  the  worship  of 
the  infinite  beauty.     This  fact  of  the  divine  ele- 
ment in  humanity,  the  Greeks  saw  ;  and  this  was 
the  chief  source  of  that  wonderful  development  of 
human  faculties  which  came  between  the  time  of 
the  battle  of  Marathon,  b.  c.  490,  and  the  reign  of 
Philip  of  Macedon,  b.  c.  360,  or  in  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years. 

This  sigrht  of  the  capacities  of  human  nature  was 
the  great  inspiration  of  Grecian  development, 
which  was  made  possible  by  the  liberty  belonging 
to  Greek  institutions,  and  the  favorable  position 
of  the  race  as  to  climate  and  geographical  condi- 
tions. But  why,  then,  was  the  period  of  develop- 
ment so  brief,  and  so  soon  arrested  ?     Climate  and 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  67 

geography  have  remained  the  same  till  to-day ; 
the  race  remains  the  same.  What  has  become  of 
the  Greek  genius? 

"  Eternal  summer  gilds  tliem  yet  ; 
But  all,  except  their  sun,  is  set  !  " 

The  cause  of  the  rapid  decline  of  Greek  civiliza- 
tion is  to  be  found  in  the  perpetual  internecine 
struggles  and  wars  of  the  Hellenic  tribes.  Out- 
ward force  failed  to  destroy  them  while  they  were 
united  —  want  of  union  was  their  ruin.  Freedom 
without  union  was  their  danger.  The  human 
polytheism  of  Greece  secured  their  freedom,  but 
left  them  without  union.  The  Pan-Hellenic  festi- 
vals were  not  enough.  They  needed  to  be  bound 
together  as  the  Jews  and  Mohammedans  and  Chris- 
tians have  been  bound  together  by  the  worship  of 
one  supreme  God.  They  had  in  their  faith  the 
forces  of  humanity  and  freedom ;  they  needed 
those  of  unity  and  order,  —  some  common  law, 
some  binding  morality.  This  is  my  explanation 
of  the  rapid  fall  of  Greek  civilization. 

It  may  be  said  that  Islam,  which  possessed  this 
unity,  had  an  equally  brief  career  of  progress. 
That  is  true.  The  religion  of  Mohammed  is  the 
exact  opposite  to  that  of  Greece.  If  the  Greek 
faith  was  inspired  by  humanity,  variety,  and  free- 
dom, that  of  Islam  taught  unity,  submission,  and 
the  absolute  sovereignty  of  one  God.     Every  Mo- 


/ 


68  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

hammedan  was  the  servant  of  the  one  true  God, 
and  his  mission  was  to  convert  the  world  to  Allah, 
and  to  his  prophet.  This  great  hope  inspired  and 
united  the  tribes  of  Arabia,  and  is  the  only  ex- 
planation we  have  of  that  prodigious  development 
of  art,  science,  literature,  which  followed  the  con- 
quests of  the  Saracens.  These  Arab  races  had 
been  sleeping  in  their  deserts  for  a  thousand  years, 
a  nullity  in  the  affairs  of  the  human  race.  A  relig- 
ious idea  awakened  them,  and  vitalized  them  into 
amazing  activity.  They  ran  their  strange  career 
for  a  couple  of  centuries,  and  then  faded  again  into 
apathy. 

We  perceive  that  Islam,  like  the  Greek  religion, 
like  those  of  India  and  Persia  and  Rome,  like  Bud- 
dhism and  the  system  of  Confucius,  has  seen  one 
side  of  truth,  — but  failed  to  see  the  opposite.  Is- 
lam saw  God,  but  not  man  ;  saw  the  claims  of  de- 
ity, not  the  rights  of  hmnanity  ;  saw^  authority, 
failed  to  see  freedom,  —  therefore  hardened  into 
despotism,  stiffened  into  formalism,  and  sank  into 
death. 

The  chief  superiority  of  Christianity  to  other  re- 
ligions, as  I  shall  hope  hereafter  to  show,  is  not 
that  it  taught  what  had  never  been  known  before  ; 
not  that  it  contains  only  truth,  while  all  the  rest 
contain  only  error  ;  but  that  it  is  all-sided,  all-em- 
bracing, hospitable  to  all  truth.  It  is  not  exclu- 
sive but  inclusive.     Each  of  the  other  great  relig- 


SPECIAL    TYPES.  69 

ions  give  us  one  side  of  truth.     Christianity,  by  a 
deeper  inspiration,  alUes  itself  with  all  truth. 

But  we  shall  be  in  the  fullest  sympathy  with  the 
spirit  of  Jesus,  if  in  these  studies  of  other  religions 
we  look  for  truth  rather  than  error,  for  good  rather 
than  evil.  We  shall  not  be  able  to  understand 
them,  so  long  as  they  seem  to  us  only  the  work  of 
priestcraft ;  only  an  outbreak  of  superstition ;  only 
the  exhibition  of  human  weakness  and  error.  The 
larger  view  is  the  truer  view.  Each  represents  the 
aspirations  of  the  soul  toward  God ;  each  comes 
from  the  highest,  not  the  lowest  part  of  man's  na- 
ture ;  each  contains  some  essential  truth  ;  and  each 
has  conferred  on  the  world  some  lasting  blessings. 
They  have  all  been,  and  all  are,  indispensable  to 
the  development  of  mankind.  They  make  a  part 
of  the  education  of  the  world.  We  need  them  all ; 
God  needed  them  all ;  they  have  been  His  prop- 
erty since  the  world  began.  Every  earnest  seeker, 
every  sincere  thought,  is  a  blessing  to  the  world. 
The  moral  of  our  study  is  that  of  Mr.  Emerson's 
beautiful  poem,  "Each  and  All"  :  — 

"  All  are  needed  by  each  one, 
Nothing  is  fair  or  good  alone." 


70  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 


CHAPTER   III. 

ORIGIN   AND   DEVELOPMENT    OF   ALL    RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Two  ways  in  which  religions  begin :  suddenly,  under  the 
influence  of  a  Prophet ;  or  gradually,  out  of  a  national  tend- 
ency. §  2.  Eeligions  derived  from  previous  religions,  by  im- 
itation or  reaction.  Influence  of  the  Greek  upon  the  Roman 
Theology;  of  the  doctrines  of  Egypt  on  the  teaching  of 
Moses  ;  of  Buddhism  on  Christianity  ;  of  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity on  Mohammedanism.  §  3.  Origin  of  all  religions. 
Three  answers.  Transformed  sensations  cannot  give  to  us 
the  Idea  of  the  Infinite.  §  4.  Belief  in  disembodied  spirits 
the  first  form  in  which  the  religious  nature  manifests  itself. 
§  5.  The  world  of  Dreams,  and  its  influence.  §  6.  Why  do 
Primitive  Races  fear  Ghosts  ?  §  7.  Demoniacal  Possession 
and  Exorcism.  §  8.  In  all  childlike  races  religion  is  the 
same.  Animism  the  first  step  in  religion,  §  9.  The  next 
step  upward  gives  Polytheism.  The  Vedic  Hymns.  The 
Character  of  Polytheism.  §  10.  Arrested  and  progressive 
Development.  The  point  of  religious  development  reached 
by  Zoroaster.  §  11.  When  Polytheism  degenerates,  it  be- 
comes Idolatry.  The  relapse  of  Brahmanism.  That  of  Egypt. 
How  Religions  Decay.  §  12.  The  Mexican  Religion  at  the 
Time  of  the  Conquest  was  the  degenerate  form  of  an  ante- 
rior Monotheism.  Its  mixture  of  pure  moral  teaching  and 
terrible  superstitions. 

§  1.  Tlie  two  ivays  in  which  Religions  begin. 
rpiIE    origin   of   religion   is   a   question   which 

has  been  much   discussed   of    late.      Three 
courses    of    the    Hibbert    Lectures    in    England 


OEIGIN   AND   DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.      71 

have  taken  this  for  their  subject.  The  first  was 
by  Max  Mliller,  the  second  by  Renouf,  the  third 
by  Rhys  Davids,  all  eminent  Oriental  scholars. 
The  last  work  of  Herbert  Spencer  examines  the 
same  subject. 

This  question,  however,  is  really  two  questions. 
One  asks  wherein  is  the  root  and  source  of  Relig- 
ion ;  the  other  inquires  how  each  special  religion 
began  ;  in  what  movement  it  had  its  origin. 

Looking"  for  a  moment  at  the  second  of  these 
topics,  we  find  that  Religions  begin  very  differ- 
ently. Some  are  slowly  unfolded  by  a  gradual 
process  out  of  the  life  of  a  nation  or  race.  This  is 
the  fact  with  what  we  have  called  Ethnic  religions, 
as  those  of  Egypt,  India,  Greece,  Rome,  Scandi- 
navia. So  far  as  we  can  see,  these  all  gradually 
took  form,  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  the 
nation  or  race. 

But  the  other  class,  which  we  have  called  Cath- 
olic religions,  come  more  abruptly ;  not  so  much 
by  development  as  by  a  kind  of  crisis.  These  all 
proceed  from  the  personal  influence  of  some  in- 
spired soul.  They  are  prophetic  religions.  Thus 
arose,  not  slowly,  but  in  a  few  years,  the  systems 
of  faith  and  worship  taught  by  Zoroaster,  Buddha, 
Moses,  Christ,  Mohammed.  The  beginnings  of  re- 
ligions, therefore,  greatly  differ,  according  as  they 
grow  out  of  a  national  tendency,  or  are  taught  by 
some  inspired  prophet. 


72  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

§  2.  How    religions  are  derived  fro77i  previous    religions  ? 

Another  question  in  regard  to  the  beginnings  of 
specific  rehgions  is  this  :  Are  they  ever  derived 
from  each  other  ?  Does  one  ever  originate  in  an- 
other ?  It  is  certain  that  one  national  form  of  be- 
hef  or  worship  may  be  greatly  indebted  to  another. 
Thus  the  religion  of  Rome  was  largely  borrowed 
from  that  of  Greece.  Creuzer  affirms  as  a  promi- 
nent fact  that  there  was  a  concourse  of  Oriental, 
Pelasgic,  Samothracian,  and  Hellenic  elements  in 
the  religion  of  Rome.  The  Romans  were,  no 
doubt,  an  imitative  people,  with  very  little  origi- 
nality. They  borrowed  and  begged  their  stories 
about  the  gods,  from  Greece  or  elsewhere.  Jupi- 
ter was  a  transformed  Zeus,  Apollo  was  Phoebus 
under  another  name,  Venus  was  Aphrodite,  Mer- 
cury was  Hermes,  and  so  on.  But,  as  Hegel  long 
ago  remarked,  these  resemblances  are  superficial ; 
the  two  religions  were  radically  different.  The 
Roman  gods  were  prosaic  persons,  with  little  char- 
acter of  their  own ;  in  fact,  servants  of  the  state 
and  performing  various  useful  offices.  There  was 
a  Jupiter  Pistor,  presiding  over  bakers.  There 
was  a  goddess  of  ovens ;  another,  Juno  Moneta, 
who  took  care  of  the  Roman  coin.  There  was  a 
goddess  who  presided  over  doing  nothing,  Tran- 
quillitas  Vacuna.  So  that,  after  all,  the  Roman  re- 
ligion and  worship  had  each  a  character  of  its  own, 
wholly  diffei'cnt  from  that  of  Greece. 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     73 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  Moses  borrowed  his 
monotheism  and  the  Jewish  ritual  from  Egypt,  be- 
cause he  was  learned  in  all   the  wisdom  of  the 

Egyptian^. 

The  sacred  books  of  Egypt  taught  the  unity  and 
spirituality  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
a  future  judgment,  besides  a  morality  of  justice 
and  mercy.  The  Jewish  priesthood  was  in  some 
respects  like  that  of  Egypt,  and  the  two  rituals 
had  some  analogy  with  each  other.  But  here 
aorain  the  resemblances  are  on  the  surface,  the  dif- 
ferences  are  radical.  The  doctrine  of  the  divine 
unity  was  a  secret  doctrine  in  Egypt,  but  it  was 
made  by  Moses  the  public  faith  of  the  nation. 
The  polytheistic  idolatry,  which  constituted  the 
public  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  Moses  made  a 
crime.  And  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  which 
played  so  large  a  part  in  Egyptian  faith,  is  no- 
where distinctly  taught  in  the  Books  of  Moses. 
The  strikino:  fact  in  reg;ard  to  the  two  relio-ions  is 
not  that  they  resemble  each  other,  but  that  they 
differ  so  essentially. 

The  resemblances  between  Buddhism  and  medi- 
aeval Christianity  are  so  great  that  it  seems  at  first 
as  if  one  must  have  copied  from  the  other.  We 
find,  in  both,  monks  living  in  monasteries,  mendi- 
cant orders  taking  the  three  vows  of  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience,  telling  their  beads  on  a 
rosary,  going  about  begging,  with  bare  feet,  shaven 


74  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

crowns,  and  a  rope  round  the  body.  We  find  in 
Buddhism  and  mediaeval  Christianity, bells,  images, 
and  holy  water,  a  service  in  a  dead  language, 
choirs,  priests,  processions  and  incense,  abbots, 
monks  and  nuns,  the  worship  of  saints  and  angels, 
confession,  fasts  and  purgatory,  reverence  for  a  di- 
vine mother  and  child,  relic-worship,  pilgrimages 
to  the  shrines  of  saints,  and  even  a  pope  in  each, 
with  his  triple  tiara.  And  yet  history  shows  us 
that  neither  could  have  borrowed  from  the  other, 
that  there  was  no  contact  or  intercourse  between 
the  two  systems,  but  each  developed  these  remark- 
able coincidences  of  ritual  independently  of  the 
other,  out  of  common  human  needs  and  human 
tendencies.  This  proves  how  unwise  it  is  to  infer 
from  similarity  of  form  in  any  two  systems  that 
one  was  derived  from  the  other. 

Islam,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  faith,  de- 
rived its  essential  doctrines  from  preceding  relig- 
ions. Nearly  every  dogma  in  the  Koran  is  taken 
from  Judaism  or  Christianity.  And  yet  Moham- 
medanism came,  not  as  a  continuation  of  these, 
but  as  a  reaction  against  them.  It  was  a  revolt 
against  the  narrowness  of  Judaism  and  the  laxity 
of  the  Christianity  of  that  region.  Especially,  it 
was  a  declaration  of  the  unity  of  God  against  the 
saint-worship  of  the  East  in  those  days. 

In  fact,  a  new  religion  is  much  more  likely  to 
come  by  a  reaction  against  an  old  one  than  an  im- 


ORIGIN    AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     75 

itation  of  it.  Christianity  was  a  reaction  against 
the  dead  formaUsm  of  Judaism.  Islam  was  a  reac- 
tion asrainst  the  dead  formalism  of  Eastern  Christi- 
anity.  Protestantism  was  an  anti-sacerdotal  and 
anti-ritual  reaction  against  the  formalism  of  medi- 
aeval Christianity.  And  so,  Buddhism  was  a  reac- 
tion ag-ainst  the  sacerdotalism  and  ritualism  of 
Brahmanism.  It  rejected  the  whole  system  of 
caste  and  salvation  by  a  priesthood.  It  taught,  as 
Luther  taught,  salvation  by  faith.  It  made  all 
men  equal  before  God,  as  Protestantism  made 
them  equal.  Its  ritual  came  later,  after  its  early 
energy  of  faith  had  begun  to  decay.  For  as  spirit- 
ual life  goes  out,  forms  come  in.  When  the  ship 
of  faith  can  no  longer  pursue  its  voyage  over  the 
storm-tossed  sea  of  life,  it  comes  to  anchor  in  the 
quiet  harbor  of  ritualistic  worship. 

Special  religions,  therefore,  begin  either  as 
growths  out  of  a  national  life  and  national  charac- 
ter, by  the  original  influence  of  some  great  pro- 
phetic soul,  or  by  a  reaction  against  something 
one-sided  and  extreme  in  an  existing:  faith. 


'O 


§  3.    Origin  of  all  religion. 

But  when  we  come  to  the  origin  of  all  religion, 
and  ask  whence  religion  itself  arose,  there  are 
three  answers :  an  original  Supernatural  Reve- 
lation; a  Natural  Revelation  by  religious  ideas 
planted  in  human  nature ;  or  the  transformation  of 


76  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

the  experience  of  the  senses  into  something  higher 
by  a  process  of  evolution.  Of  the  first  we  shall 
not  speak,  but  briefly  cout^ider  the  two  others. 

The  philosophical  theory  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  human  consciousness  beside  transformed 
sensations,  is  obliged  to  deny  to  man  a  religious 
nature.  It  has  even  led  a  certain  school  of  thouorht 
to  deny  that  we  possess  ideas  which  certainly  ap- 
pear to  be  not  only  universal  but  necessary  — 
such  as  Cause,  Substance,  the  Soul,  the  Infinite. 
Nothing  which  cannot  be  derived  from  sensation 
is  allowed  to  exist  as  knowledge.  There  are  two 
things  which  all  mankind  think  that  they  know, 
namely,  their  own  existence,  and  the  existence  of 
an  outward  world.  But  since  these  are  not  de- 
rived from  sensation,  it  has  been  thought  neces- 
sary to  deny  their  existence.  We  certainly  do 
not  and  cannot  know  the  reality  of  an  outside 
world  by  sensation  alone ;  all  that  sensation  re- 
veals is  its  phenomena :  form,  color,  resistance, 
and  so  forth.  Therefore  John  Stuart  Mill,  faithful 
to  his  sensationalistic  philosophy,  has  defined  our 
knowledge  of  the  outside  world  to  be  merely  "  a 
permanent  possibility  of  sensation,"  giving  us  not 
even  sensation,  but  only  "  a  possibility  of  sensa- 
tion "  in  place  of  a  real  universe.  Herbert  Spen- 
cer denies  that  we  have,  or  can  have,  in  our  mind, 
any  conception  of  the  Infinite,  or  of  Creation,  or 
of  a  First  Cause.    These  three  are  all,  he  says,  un- 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.      77 

thinkable.  I  do  not  stop  to  answer  his  argument, 
which  has  been  sufficiently  refuted  by  Mr.  Marti- 
neau  and  others.  I  merely  call  attention  to  his 
philosophical  position,  to  show  how  absolutely  nec- 
essary it  was  that  he  should  trace  the  origin  of 
religions  to  some  outward  perception,  coming 
throuo-h  the  senses.  He  therefore  derives  them 
from  dreams.  A  savage  dreams,  he  says,  and  his 
dream  seems  real.  He  gets  the  notion  of  another 
world,  and  of  his  own  possible  existence  therein, 
and  of  his  existence  apart  from  his  body.  Hence 
the  belief  in  ghosts,  ancestral  spirits,  ancestral 
worship  and  the  like. 

The  truth  in  this  view  I  shall  attempt  presently 
to  show.  Meantime  I  merely  remark  that  we  cer- 
tainly have  in  our  minds  note  the  conception  of  a 
Supreme  Power,  of  an  Infinite  Creator,  a  First 
Cause,  a  just,  holy,  benevolent  being  —  all- wise, 
all-good,  all-powerful.  These  ideas  are  not  de- 
rived from  sensation ;  then  they  must  have  come 
some  other  way.  The  brook  does  not  rise  higher 
than  its  fountain.  No  sensation  of  hardness,  color, 
smell,  taste,  form,  can  by  any  transformation  be- 
come thought,  will,  memory,  love.  Something 
must  be  added  to  it  not  there  before.  There  is  no 
objection  to  the  theory  which  assumes  that  every- 
thinc:  in  natm^e  and  the  soul  was  evolved  from  a 
nebula,  provided  we  grant  either  that  everything 
evolved  was  first  involved,  or  else  that  everything 


\ 


1 


78  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

not  there  has  been  added  since.  Assuming  that  un- 
developed man  has  in  his  soul  the  germs  of  a  re- 
ligious nature,  just  as  he  has  the  germs  of  a  ra- 
tional, moral,  and  social  nature,  let  us  inquire  next 
how  they  are  unfolded,  in  what  way  they  first 
manifest  themselves,  and  through  what  processes 
they  pass  to  their  highest  manifestations. 

§  4.   Belief  in  disembodied  Spirits  the  lowest  form  in 
which  Religion  manifests  itself. 

Those  w^ho  have  searched  most  deeply  into  the 
nature  of  tribes  in  the  lowest  state  of  development 
can  generally  trace  a  belief  in  one  Supreme  God. 
But  this  monotheism  is  latent,  not  active.  The 
active  prominent  form  of  religion  among  such  sav- 
ages is  dread  of  ghosts,  and  fear  of  malignant 
powers.  The  idea  of  a  ghost  comes  to  them  from 
the  instinctive  consciousness  that  the  soul  within 
them  is  independent  of  the  bodily  life,  and  will 
survive  it.  Ghosts  are  supposed  to  be  souls  with- 
out bodies  —  beings  who  can  see  without  eyes,  hear 
without  ears,  strike  without  a  hand  —  who  can 
think,  feel,  love,  hate,  remember,  be  angry.  In 
short,  they  are  men  minus  the  body,  and  ^;Zz^s  the 
power  of  suddenly  appearing  and  disappearing, 
going  and  coming  with  rapidity  through  far  dis- 
tances. This  belief  is  universal  among  the  lower 
races.  How  did  it  come  ?  The  so-called  modern 
Spiritualists  will  say,  "  From  the  fact  that  there 


V 


OEIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.      79 

are  ghosts,  and  that  they  have  been  seen  by  these 
people."  But  putting  aside  this  explanation  as 
thus  far  unverified,  how  could  this  universal  belief 
arise  ?  The  explanation  is  easy  enough  if  we  be- 
lieve that  man  is  conscious  of  an  immaterial  and 
immortal  soul,  which  is  his  real  self,  his  ego.  That 
this  ego  is  not  body  is  proved  to  him  because  he 
knows,  it,  not  through  his  bodily  sense,  but  by  his 
consciousness ;  because  this  ego,  or  soul,  thinks, 
feels,  loves,  hates,  remembers  and  foresees,  hopes 
and  fears;  that  this  ego  thus  exercises  certain 
powers  which  are  separated  by  an  impassable  gulf 
from  physical  sensations.  Though  wholly  unac- 
quainted with  the  simplest  philosophic  or  meta- 
physical definitions,  every  man  is  quite  sure  that 
his  soul  and  its  phenomena  cannot  be  described  in 
terms  of  matter  ;  that  a  thought  cannot  be  said  to 
be  white  or  black,  hard  or  soft ;  that  pain  cannot 
be  weighed  in  scales,  nor  pleasure  measured  by  a 
foot-rule  ;  that  you  cannot  say  of  hope,  memory, 
or  love  that  they  are  squares  or  triangles,  fragrant 
or  odorless ;  that  you  cannot  attribute  the  taste  of 
sweet  or  sour  to  the  imagination.  These  distinc- 
tions may  be  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
but  are  certainly  known  to  babes. 

Knowing  thus  the  essential  character  of  soul  and 
its  distinction  from  body,  the  primitive  or  childlike 
man  assumes  that  death,  which  dissolves  the  body, 
does  not  destroy  the  soul.     His  soul  continues  to 


80  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

exist  as  a  disembodied  spirit.  Until  he  obtains 
some  theory  of  a  distant  Heaven,  or  underground 
Hades,  or  Tartarus,  he  very  naturally  supposes 
that  the  disembodied  spirits  remain  near  by.  They 
are  believed  to  appear  by  night,  because  in  the  dim 
shadows  of  darkness  many  objects  may  assume  the 
aspect  of  a  human  form.  They  disappear  at  day, 
because  in  the  daylight  no  such  error  is  possible. 

§  5.   The  world  of  Dreams  and  its  influetice . 

Thus  primitive  religion  begins  with  a  belief  that 
we  are  surrounded  by  an  unseen  world  of  sj)irits 
like  ourselves.  Then  the  wonderful  phenomena 
of  dreams  suggestjf  another  step  of  belief.  Dream- 
ing is  so  common  that  we  do  not  often  consider 
what  a  very  strange  fact  it  is  in  our  life.  We 
spend  nearly  a  third  of  our  life  in  a  world  of  im- 
agination, not  reality.  We  walk  in  an  imaginary 
world,  see  and  converse  with  imaginary  beings, 
encounter  and  escape  imaginary  dangers.  We 
awake  convulsed  with  terror,  glad  with  mysterious 
joy,  troubled  by  forebodings.  If  we  did  not  for- 
get the  largest  part  of  this  experience,  we  should 
probably  find  that  our  sleeping  life  is  much  more 
rich  in  excitement,  adventure,  and  suggestion  than 
our  waking  hours.  To  the  child-man,  to  whom 
the  outward  order  of  the  visible  universe  is  so  im- 
perfectly known,  the  realm  of  dreams  seems  prob- 
ably more  real  than  it  does  to  us.     Dreamland  is  a 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    EELIGIONS.      81 

vast  domain,  close  by,  which  he  enters  every  night 
with  his  soul,  leaving  his  body  behind.  When  he 
leaves  his  body  wholly  behind  at  death,  he  natu- 
rally believes  that  his  soul  enters  some  such  world 
as  that  of  dreams.  Hence,  in  addition  to  his  be- 
lief in  spirits,  comes  a  conception  of  a  spirit-land. 
As  he  enters  the  dreamland  every  night,  and  comes 
from  it  to  his  earth-world  every  morning,  he  can 
see  no  reason  why  the  spirits  should  not  some- 
times leave  their  dream-home  and  enter  his  wak- 
ing-world. 

§  6.    Why  should  primitive  races  he  afraid  of  disembodied 

spirits. 

But  why  should  primitive  man  Ire  afraid  of 
ghosts  ?  Why  should  supernatural  beings  be  con- 
ceived as  more  often  malignant  than  beneficent. 
For  the  same  reason  that  he  distrusts  strangers. 
Most  primitive  peoples  imagine  the  strangers 
who  first  come  to  their  shores  to  be  enemies, 
bent  on  rapine  and  devastation.  Their  unhappy 
experience  has  taught  them  that  most  strangers 
are  their  enemies.  The  condition  of  chronic  want 
in  which  these  people  so  often  live  —  exposed  to 
hunger,  cold,  poverty  —  leads  them  to  invade 
each  other's  territory  for  plunder.  But  there  is 
another  and  perhaps  more  potent  reason  for  their 
fear  of  spirits.  A  universal  intuition  of  the  rea- 
son gives  to  all  men,  as  soon  as  the  intelligence 


82  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

awakens,  some  conception  of  cause  and  effect,  — 
in  other  words,  assures  them  that  nothing  can 
take  place  without  a  cause.  Now  all  causes  are 
divided  into  physical  and  spiritual,;^—  those  which 
act  through  the  great  machine  of  nature,  and 
those  which  originate  in  will,  whether  human  or 
superhuman.  The  progress  of  knowledge  tends  to 
releg-ate  more  and  more  of  the  causes  workino; 
around  us,  to  the  realm  of  nature.  When  an  epi- 
demic breaks  out,  we  do  not  ascribe  it  to  a  malig- 
nant spirit,  but  to  imperfect  drainage  or  bad  air. 
When  a  tornado  sweeps  away  a  town  in  Iowa  or 
Kansas,  we  do  not  say  that  a  demon  of  the  air  has 
done  it,  but  explain  it  by  some  meteorological  an- 
tecedents. The  great  fires  which  desolated  Michi- 
gan are  not  ascribed  to  the  anger  of  Agni,  but  to 
the  long  previous  drought.  But  to  the  mind  of 
the  uncivilized  man,  unstored  with  these  explana- 
tions, which  are  our  commonplaces  of  knowledge, 
every  unusual,  sudden,  unexplained  disaster  is 
supposed  to  be  the  immediate  work  of  an  evil 
spirit.  As  a  man,  he  must  believe  that  every 
event  has  its  cause  ;  as  an  uneducated  man,  he  is 
unacquainted  with  physical  causes,  and  so  assumes 
spiritual  causes  for  any  uncommon  event.  Com- 
mon events  do  not  disturb  him.  When  he  throws 
a  stone  into  the  air  and  it  falls  again,  he  neither 
thinks  of  this  as  the  work  of  a  spirit,  nor  as  the  re- 
sult of  gravitation  ;  but  he  simply  says,  "  It  falls 


OEIGm   AND   DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     83 

because  it  is  heavy."  The  causes  for  common 
events  in  the  outward  world  he  finds  in  the  nature 
of  things.  But  strange,  unexpected  events  he  as- 
scribes '  to  the  spirit-world ;  and,  as  these  are 
mostly  disasters  and  misfortunes,  he  believes  in 
malignant  spirits  more  than  in  good  ones.  The 
supernatural,  invisible  beings  around  him  are  like 
the  men  around  him,  capricious,  irritable,  violent. 
These  characteristics  he  finds  even  in  men  of  his 
own  tribe,  but  every  time  he  meets  a  stranger  he 
is  apt  to  encounter  an  enemy.  The  supernatural 
world  is  full  of  such  strangers,  hence  he  fears 
more  than  he  hopes  from  their  interference  in  his 
affairs.  But  how  can  he  ward  off  these  dangers  ? 
Who  can  tell  what  can  placate  the  hostile  invisi- 
bles ?  Some  of  his  tribe  think  they  know  what 
ought  to  be  done,  hence  sorcery  and  sorcerers. 
Amono;  the  childlike  races  these  are  universal.  It 
is  exactly  the  same  motive  which  leads  so  many 
among  ourselves  to  take  quack  medicine  and  call 
in  quack  doctors.  An  ignorant  man,  in  his  dis- 
tress, will  believe  any  one  who  declares  with  great 
confidence  that  he  can  certainly  help  him.  That 
is  all  that  the  child-man  does.  He  believes  in  his 
sorcerer  or  medicine-man. 

§  7.  Demoniacal  possession  and  exorcism. 

The  same  belief  in  evil  spirits  and  their  power 
we  find  in  the  time  of  Christ  among  the  Jews, 


84  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

with  whom  some  forms  of  disease,  as  epilepsy  and 
insanity,  were  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  demons. 
And  no  wonder,  for  such  diseases  seem  to  show  a 
kind  of  possession.  A  change  of  mental  and  moral 
character  is  a  well-known  symptom  in  cerebral 
disease.  The  generous  man  becomes  avaricious, 
the  peaceable  man  quarrelsome,  the  cheerful  man 
gloomy,  a  sweet  temper  grows  morose  and  suspi- 
cious ;  hence  the  notion  of  demoniacal  possession. 
In  malarial  disease,  a  man  may  be  helpless  from 
fever  every  third  day,  and  apparently  well  during 
the  two  intervening  days.  Does  not  this  diaboli- 
cal periodicity  naturally  suggest  that  an  evil  spirit 
comes  and  goes  on  these  occasions  ?  The  man, 
among  the  undeveloped  races,  who  knows  how  to 
drive  away  such  demons,  is  the  sorcerer.  Hence 
the  universal  practice  of  sorcery  among  the  child- 
like races. 

Belief  in  demoniacal  possession  and  sorcery  has 
continued  until  a  recent  period,  even  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  The  sorcerer  in  Christendom  re- 
ceived another  name,  and  was  called  an  exorcist. 
The  change  of  name  certainly  marked  a  develop- 
ment of  the  idea  into  a  higher  form.  The  sor- 
cerer among  ethnic  races  uses  magical  processes, 
and  not  only  casts  out  evil  spirits,  but  invokes 
them  in  order  to  injure  an  enemy,  or  to  destroy 
the  life  of  his  foe.  The  Jews,  who  were  the  prin- 
cipal exorcists  in  ancient  times,  professed  to  cast 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     85 

out  demons  partly  by  adjuration  and  partly  by  the 
use  of  a  certain  root  called  Baaras.^  After  Chris- 
tianity prevailed,  the  Christian  exorcists  were  con- 
sidered the  most  powerful.  By  the  name  of  Jesus, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  they  thought  they  could 
cast  out  the  demons  who  had  resisted  the  enchant- 
ments of  the  Pagan  exorcists.  All  the  early  Chris- 
tian fathers  believed  in  this  power.  Tertullian,  in 
the  midst  of  a  fierce  Pagan  persecution,  makes  a 
deliberate  offer  to  test  the  whole  question  between 
the  two  religions  by  the  ability  of  the  Christians 
to  cast  out  any  demon  who  may  have  taken  pos- 
session of  a  sufferer.  He  declares  "  If  we  Chris- 
tians cannot  make  the  demons  confess  aloud  their 
diabolical  character,  we  will  consent  to  be  put  to 
death  on  the  spot."  Abuses  of  this  custom  caused 
a  council  in  the  fourth  century  to  limit  the  exer- 
cise of  exorcism  to  an  order  in  the  church  called 
exorcists,  who  were  regularly  ordained.  Every 
heathen,  at  his  conversion,  was  supposed  to  be 
possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  which  must  be  cast 
out  before  he  could  be  baptized.  The  exorcist 
breathed  on  him,  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on 
his  forehead  and  breast,  and  said :  "  Exi,  immunde 
spiritus,  et  da  locum  spiritui  Sancto  Paraclito." 
"  Go  out,  evil  spirit,  and  make  room  for  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Comforter."  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  exorcism  is   still  practiced,  not  only  on 

^  Josephus,  Antiquities,  viii.  2.  §  5. 


86  TEN    GREAT   RELIGION'S. 

enurgumens  (or  possessed  persons),  but  the  oil 
and  water  are  exorcised  before  being  blessed,  in 
the  baptism  of  infants.  The  exorcist  is  the  third 
of  the  minor  orders  in  the  Roman  Cathohc  Church. 
Exorcism  in  the  Christian  Church  was,  however, 
never  used,  as  in  ethnic  reHgions,  to  torture  and 
kill  one's  enemies ;  it  was  not  connected  with  mys- 
terious magical  operations,  and  it  has  now  nearly 
passed  out  of  Christianity,  lingering  in  the  Catho- 
lic Church  rather  as  a  tradition  than  as  a  living 
belief. 

§  8.  Religion  not  differentiated  in  childlike  raees.     It  is 

Animism. 


We  see  that  in  all  childlike  races  relio-ion  is  the 
same.  It  is  not  as  yet  differentiated.  Though 
these  races  are  widely  separated,  and  have  never 
come  in  contact  with  each  other,  nor  with  edu- 
cated man,  they  hold  a  uniform  faith.  This  uni- 
versal religion  which  embraces  the  tribes  of  Aus- 
tralia, the  Hottentot  and  Bushman  of  South  Africa, 
the  islanders  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  tribes  of 
North  America  and  South  America,  and  the  Esqui- 
maux of  Greenland,  is  Animism.  All  these  races 
believe  in  a  soul,  which  exists  after  the  body  dies, 
and  in  a  world  of  spirits,  from  which  departed 
souls  may  return  to  earth ;  in  beneficent  or  malig- 
nant influences  from  the  supernatural  world,  in 
conjurors  and  sorcerers,  and  the  power  of  magic. 


ORIGIX    AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.      87 

Apart  from  all  theory  about  the  origin  of  religion, 
this  we  see,  as  a  matter  of  observation,  to  be  the 
beginning  of  religion.  The  first  supernatural  no- 
tion of  the  undeveloped  man  is  of  the  continuance 
into  a  supernatural  world  of  that  mysterious  entity 
which  we  call  soul.  It  is  a  very  natural  inference 
that  not  only  the  souls  of  ancestors  are  m  that 
world,  but  that  other  kindred  and  more  powerful 
spirits  are  there  too.  Hence  the  universal  primal 
belief  in  superhuman  and  supernatural  powers, 
who  interfere  for  good  and  evil,  occasionally  or 
constantly,  in  human  affairs. 

This  primitive  belief  evidently  comes  from 
within,  not  from  without.  All  undeveloped  races 
believe  in  ghosts  j  but  whether  ghosts  are  ever 
actually  seen  or  not  continues  very  doubtful.  The 
belief,  therefore,  which  is  so  universal  and  so 
strong,  does  not  arise  from  any  outward  facts 
known  to  be  certain  and  universal.  It  is  devel- 
oped from  within,  from  the  supernatural  element 
in  man,  the  power  of  soul,  which,  even  in  the  low- 
est state,  is  above  nature,  —  the  power  of  thought, 
contrivance,  energetic  will,  persistent  desire,  which 
can  bend  and  alter  outward  things  to  serve  its 
purpose. 

§  9.  Polytheism  is  the  next  step  upward  from  Animism. 

The  next  stage  in  the  historic  development  of 
religion  takes  us  out  of  Animism  into  Polytheism. 

r 


88  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Two  changes  now  appear :  first,  tliat  whereas 
Animism  comes  chiefly  from  the  consciousness  of 
the  powers  of  the  soul  within  us,  polytheism  is 
mainly  derived  from  the  observation  of  nature 
about  us.  The  root  of  faith  remains  the  same,  a 
belief  in  other  personalities  like  ourselves.  But 
the  character  of  these  personalities  is  a  concep- 
tion taken  from  the  phenomena  of  the  outward 
universe.  Some  things  man  can  do,  other  things 
are  evidently  above  his  power ;  these  last  must  be 
the  work  of  higher  beings.  The  primitive  man 
sees  that  he  depends  on  powers  higher  than  any- 
thing; in  himself.  He  cannot  make  the  sun  rise  orl 
set,  summer  come  or  go,  fruits  ripen,  rain  fall,  yeti 
without  these  events  he  cannot  live.  There  is  at 
higher  power  which  causes  the  sun  to  shine,  the 
God  of  light.  There  is  another  powder  which  col- 
lects the  clouds  and  sends  the  rain,  the  God  of 
wind  and  storm.  Hence  comes  nature- worship,  as, 
the  second  stage  of  religious  development,  but  dif- 
fering among  different  races,  according  to  the  type 
of  the  race,  and  the  geographical  position.  The 
Vedic  hymns  adore  one  spiritual  power,  which 
dwells  in  the  sun,  the  air,  or  the  fire,  and  in  other 
elements  of  nature.  The  number  of  these  dei- 
ties is  differently  given  in  different  hymns.  One 
ancient  commentator  makes  them  three  deities. 
Many  texts  declare  that  there  are  thirty-three ; 
others    assert   that   there   are   three  hundred,   or 


ORIGIN   AKD    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     89 

three  tbousaiicl.  Sometimes  these  gods  are  said 
to  be  the  children  of  heaven  and  earth  (Dyaus 
and  Prithivi),  "  whose  marriage,"  says  Albert  Re- 
ville,  "  forms  the  foundation  of  a  hundred  my- 
thologies." So  Homer,  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  and 
Euripides  call  earth  the  "  Universal  Mother."  So 
too,  as  Tacitus  tells  us,  the  ancient  Germans  called 
the  earth  "Mother." 

The  Vedic  hymns  are  addressed  in  turn  to  "  Va- 
runa,"  the  all-surrounding  sky;  to  "Indra,"  god 
of  storms;  "Agni,"  god  of  fire;  "  Surya,"  the 
sun;  "Ushas,"  the  dawn;  "  Yama,"  god  of  death; 
to  time  and  night,  and  to  other  beings  represent- 
ing physical  power  and  change.  God,  as  mani- 
fested first  in  one  then  in  another  natural  phe- 
nomenon, was  the  central  idea  of  this  polytheism. 
The  gods  were  personified,  but  were  not  persons ; 
behind  them  all  was  the  universal  spirit,  and, 
therefore,  each  was  alternately  worshipped  as  the 
supreme,  omnipotent  God. 

If  the  Vedic  j^oljtheism  represents  God  in  na- 
ture, worshipping  the  manifestation,  the  ancient 
Egyptian  polytheism  represents  God  heJibid  na- 
ture, and  the  Greek  polytheism  gives  us  God 
wholly  detached  from  nature  and  developed  into 
human  beings,  with  human  passions,  experiences, 
and  enjoyments.  The  Greek  gods  are  men,  full 
of  human  life ;  the  Vedic  gods  are  the  powers  of 
nature ;  the  gods  of  Egypt  are  abstract  symbols. 


90  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

But  through  all  the  polytheisms  of  the  earth 
there  runs  this  one  conviction,  that  the  whole 
outward  universe  is  filled  with  spiritual  powers. 
Behind  all  matter  is  spirit ;  above  all  that  we  see, 
is  the  unseen ;  the  phenomena  which  pass  before 
our  eyes  in  nature  do  not  come  from  any  iron  fate 
or  any  blind  chance,  but  from  intelligence,  pur- 
pose, a  will  that  chooses,  a  heart  that  desires,  a 
mind  that  creates.  In  all  polytheisms  there  is 
unity  and  variety ;  in  some  of  them  the  unity  is 
more  pronounced,  in  others  the  variety. 

§  10.    Arrested   and   progressive    development.       Point 
reached  hy  Zoroaster.     The  Duad. 

Animism  thus  develops  itself  naturally  into 
polytheism.  But  at  this  point,  in  some  religions, 
the  development  is  arrested  ;  in  others  the  move- 
ment goes  forward.  The  Vedic  religion  passed  on 
into  Brahmanism,  which  was  the  worship  of  a 
Triad  —  Brahma,  the  Creator;  Siva,  the  Destroyer  ; 
and  Vishnu,  the  Restorer — in  which  the  circle  of 
change  was  completed.  Some  of  the  Vedic  proph- 
ets and  sages  were  occupied  with  the  problem  of 
creation.  Out  of  this  came  in  one  part  of  India 
the  worship  of  Brahma.  On  another  class  of 
minds  the  destructive  force  of  nature  laid  a 
stronger  hold.  Where  the  first  saw  life,  growth, 
adaptation,  development,  the  second  class  of  think- 
ers saw  decay,  war,  death,  destruction.     The  wor- 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     91 

ship  of  Siva  originated  in  the  latter  view.  As 
Brahma  represented  all  the  creative  powers  of  na- 
ture, so  Siva  represented  all  the  destructive  forces 
of  nature.  Then  came  the  Vishnu  worship  as  an- 
other step.  Admitting  that  there  i§  creation  and 
destruction  in  nature,  it  is  evident  that  there  are 
also  forces  which  restore  and  renew,  and  maintain 
the  harmony  of  the  world.  The  antagonistic 
forces  of  nature  are  brought  again  into  peace,  and, 
after  all  struggle,  a  great  unity  and  harmony  re- 
main supreme.  This  is  represented  by  the  Triad 
worship  as  we  find  it  in  the  Hindu  religion. 

The  ancient  Persian  race,  in  the  religion  of  Zo- 
roaster, did  not  for  a  long  time  reach  this  concep- 
tion of  a  supreme  existing  harmony,  but  saw  in 
nature  only  perpetual  war. 

Zoroaster,  a  highly  moral  person,  saw  evil  as  a 
hateful  power,  very  present  and  real,  and  to  be 
fought  with  forever.  To  him  good  and  evil  rej)re- 
sented  everything  in  nature.  A  fearful  elemental 
and  spiritual  war  is  forever  going  on  around  us, 
and  we  are  to  be  soldiers  of  the  good.  We  have 
to  fight  on  the  side  of  Ormazd,  King  of  Light,  i 
against  Ahriman,  Prince  of  Darkness.  In  the  pres- 
ent age  there  will  be  no  end  to  this  terrific  war,  in 
which  all  the  powers  of  the  universe  are  engaged, 
on  one  side  or  the  other.  But  in  the  last  days, 
after  this  age  has  come  to  an  end,  good  will  tri- 
umph and  all  evil  disappear,  transformed  into  pu- 


92  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

rity,  truth,  and  love.  The  rehgion  of  Zoroaster, 
then,  may  be  considered  as  the  prhnitive  religion 
which  had  passed  up  through  a  Polytheism  like 
that  of  the  Vedic  system  into  a  dualism,  where  it 
was  long  arrested,  chiefly  by  the  vast  influence  of 
this  great  prophet. 

§  11.  Degenerate  polytheism  becomes  idolatry.     How  Re- 
ligions decay. 

While  the  development  of  the  Persian  religion 
was  long  arrested  in  the  Duad,  and  that  of  India 
for  a  time  in  the  Triad,  other  Polytheisms  degen- 
erated into  idolatry.  Idol-worship  is  polytheism 
pushed  to  its  extreme  limits.  In  this  degenerate 
system,  which  has  so  widely  prevailed,  the  unity  in 
nature-worship  has  been  wholly  overcome  by  the 
variety.  The  divine  powers  have  been  detached 
from  the  All  of  Things,  and  become  independent 
local  deities,  each  worshipped  in  his  own  home  and 
at  his  own  altar.  Such  were  Baal  and  Ashtaroth 
in  Syria,  Juggernauth  and  Rudra  in  India,  Osiris 
and  Typhon  in  Egypt,  Artemis  at  Ephesus,  Aphro- 
dite at  Cyprus  and  Corinth.  In  this  form  of  wor- 
ship, passions,  instead  of  being  restrained,  are  dei- 
fied. Each  man  worships  the  God  after  his  own 
heart,  and  so  justifies  his  own  limitations.  He 
makes  his  gods  not  merely  like  himself,  but  lik^ 
his  lower  self,  his  one-sided  self. 

Social  religions,  like  social  institutions,  are  sub- 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     93 

ject  to  dilapidation  and  relapses.  Many  religions 
stand  before  us  in  history  as  majestic  ruins. 
When  you  penetrate  the  thick  jungles  of  Yucatan, 
and  come  on  the  ruins  of  Palenque,  you  find  vast 
structures,  covered  with  carved  ornaments  and 
mysterious  symbols,  indications  of  a  lost  race,  a  for- 
gotten creed,  and  a  long-buried  civilization.  So  it 
is  with  many  religions,  as  they  emerge  into  the 
light  of  present  knowledge  from  the  profound 
night  of  an  unknown  past.  Instead  of  being  ar- 
rested at  an  upward  stage  of  development  they 
have  all  the  mark  of  being  the  decayed  remains  of 
purer  and  nobler  religion.  In  the  case  of  Hindu- 
ism, we  have  the  whole  story  of  this  rise  and  prog- 
ress, followed  by  a  decline  and  fall.  We  see  it 
commence  in  a  pure  nature-religion,  w^hich  is  a 
thinly-veiled  Monotheism.  We  see  it  developed 
into  a  vast  system  of  philosophies,  ethics,  litera- 
ture, art.  Meantime  a  priesthood  has  grown  up 
and  acquired  supreme  control.  Under  its  influence 
a  complicated  theology  is  developed  and  a  ritual 
formed.  As  the  first  stage  appears  in  the  Yedic 
hymns,  the  second  is  seen  in  the  laws  of  Manu,  the 
three  great  systems  of  philosophy,  the  poems  of 
Kalidas,  and  the  two  epics.  Then  followed  the 
third  period  of  gradual  dilapidation,  when  w^orship 
became  idolatry.  Theology  degenerated  into  the 
myths  of  the  Puranas,  and  the  pure  morality  of 
earlier  times  disappeared  in  ceremonial  sacrifices 


94  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

offered  to  a  Pantheon  of  cruel  or  voluptuous  dei- 
ties. In  this  case  we  see  the  process  of  dilapida- 
tion and  decay  which  has  been  going  on  for  thou- 
sands of  years.  The  decay  has  been  going  on,  but 
dissolution  has  not  come.  Life  still  remains  in  this 
religion,  and  the  possibility  of  revival.  The  heart 
of  India  is  still  full  of  reverence  for  the  unknown 
God,  who  is  behind  its  idolatries ;  it  is  still  held  by 
its  ancient  Vedas,  as  by  an  anchor,  to  a  better 
faith.  It  is,  therefore,  a  dilapidated  and  relapsed, 
but  not  a  dead  religion. 

A  worse  fate  befell  the  religion  of  Egypt.  High- 
est in  the  earliest  period,  it  gradually  degenerated 
to  the  hour  when  it  finally  disappeared  and  passed 
away  forever.  It  began  in  a  pure  monotheism,  as 
is  positively  affirmed  by  Herodotus,  and  con- 
firmed by  De  Rouge  and  Renouf .  It  declared  that 
Grod  is  the  only  One,  whose  life  is  Truth,  that  He 
has  made  all  things,  and  that  He  alone  has  not 
been  made.  "  More  than  five  thousand  years  ago, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  the  Hymn  began  to  the 
Unity  of  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
we  find  in  the  last  ages  Egypt  arrived  at  the  most 
unbridled  polytheism."  ^  "  The  sublimer  parts  of 
the  Egyptian  religion  are  demonstrably  ancient," 
and  "  its  last  stage  was  by  far  the  grossest  and 
most  corrupt."  The  oldest  inscriptions  emphasize 
justice,  mercy,  love  of  right,  hate  of  wrong,  kiud- 

^  P.  Lc  Page  Renouf,  Uibbert  Lectures,  1879,  p.  91. 


ORIGIN-   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGION'S.     95 

ness  to  the  poor,  reverence  for  parents,  But  in 
the  later  periods  these  high  moral  ideas  disap- 
peared from  the  monuments.  Epicurean  notions 
come  in.  The  Litanies  of  Ra  on  the  royal  tombs 
of  the  XlXth  dynasty  are  already  pantheistic,^  and 
the  editor  of  these  litanies,  M.  Naville,  remarks 
that  the  pantheism  which  had  taken  possession  of 
Egyptian  thought  had  abolished  the  ideas  of  right 
and  wrong  which  appear  earlier,  and  notably  in  the 
Book  of  the  Dead.  The  reverence  for  animals, 
which  was  at  first  symbolism,  became  pure  idola- 
try. Even  the  grand  faith  in  immortality  is  lost  in 
an  Epicurean  denial  of  a  hereafter.  A  dead  wife 
addresses  her  husband  thus  from  the  sepulchre  : 
"  0  my  brother !  my  spouse,  cease  not  to  eat  and 
drink,  to  enjoy  thy  life,  follow  thy  desires,  and  let 
not  care  enter  thy  heart,  as  long  as  thou  livest  on 
the  earth.  For  this  is  the  land  of  darkness  and 
abode  of  sorrow.  No  one  awakes  any  more  to  see 
his  brethren,  nor  knows  father  nor  mother.  I  long 
for  water.     I  long  for  air." 

Both  in  the  religion  of  India  and  in  that  of 
Egypt,  this  process  of  degeneracy  may  probably 
be  traced  to  the  influence  of  a  priesthood  which 
had  become  the  ruling  power  in  the  state.  An  es- 
tablished priesthood  is  apt  to  lay  more  and  more 
stress  on  ceremony  and  ritual,  on  the  letter  that 
kills  rather  than  on  the  spirit  which  gives  life.  A 
like  tendency  in  Judaism  put  a  stop  to  its  natural 

1  Renouf,  p.  234. 


96  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

development,  and  made  the  reform  necessary 
which  took  place  m  Christianity.  The  same  hard- 
ening of  the  life  of  Christianity  into  an  extreme 
magnificence  of  worship,  under  a  caste  of  priests, 
compelled  the  Reformation  of  Luther.  Such  a  re- 
vival may  still  come  in  India.  There  the  reformer 
may  appeal  to  the  records  of  the  primitive  relig- 
ion in  the  Vedas,  as  Luther  appealed  to  those  in 
the  New  Testament. 

§  12.    The   3Iexican   Religion  the  degenerate  form  of  a 

higher  faith. 

Having  seen  the  course  taken  by  these  two 
great  nature  religions,  —  that  of  Egypt  and  India, 
where  we  have  been  able  to  pursue  historically 
their  decline  from  a  primitive  form  of  Monotheism 
to  a  corrupt  Polytheism,  —  we  can  imagine  what 
the  course  has  been  in  other  systems  of  whose  his- 
toric development  we  are  ignorant. 

Take,  for  example,  the  Mexican  religion  as  it 
was  found  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest. 
This  Aztec  system  bears  all  the  marks,  not  of  one 
J  evolved  from  a  lower  condition  of  development, 
but  of  one  lapsed  from  a  higher.  As  described 
by  Prescott,  it  had  an  elaborate  ritual,  a  powerful 
priesthood,  magnificent  places  of  worship,  and  a 
developed  theology.  "  The  priests,"  says  Prescott, 
""had  digested  as  thorough  and  burdensome  a  rit- 
ual as  ever  existed  in  any  nation."    "The  sacerdo- 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF   RELIGIONS.     97 

tal  order  was  very  numerous ;  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  statement  that  five  thousand  priests  were, 
in  some  way  or  other,  attached  to  the  principal 
temple  of  the  capital.  The  ranks  and  functions  of 
this  multitudinous  body  were  discriminated  with 
great  exactness.  Those  best  instructed  in  music 
took  the  management  of  the  choirs.  Others  ar- 
rano-ed  the  festivals  according^  to  the  calendar. 
Some  superintended  the  education  of  youth,  and 
others  had  charge  of  the  hieroglyphical  paintings 
and  oral  traditions ;  while  the  dismal  rites  of  sacri- 
fice were  reserved  for  the  chief  dignitaries  of  the 
order.  At  the  head  of  the  whole  were  two  high 
priests,  equal  in  dignity,  and  inferior  only  to  the 
sovereign.  Some  of  the  priests  were  attached  to 
the  worship  of  particular  deities ;  others  lived  like 
monks,  under  the  severest  conventual  discipline. 
They  were  called  to  prayers  three  times  a  day, 
and  once  at  night;  were  frequent  in  ablutions  and 
vigils,  and  in  mortifying  the  flesh  by  cruel  pen- 
ances of  fasting,  flagellation,  and  other  austerities. 
They  heard  confession  and  gave  absolution  as  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  priestly  absolu- 
tion was  received  in  place  of  the  legal  punishment 
of  offenses.  As  in  Europe,  ancient  Egypt,  and 
India,  a  vast  amount  of  land  was  annexed  to  the 
temple  for  the  support  of  the  priesthood ;  so  much 
so  as  to  impoverish  the  empire.  The  temples  were 
very  numerous.      They  were  called  Teocallis,  or 


98  TEN    GREAT    RELIGION'S. 

Houses  of  God.  They  were  pyramidal  in  form, 
with  a  square  base,  each  side  being  sometimes  a 
hundred  feet  long.  They  were  in  terraces,  more 
than  one  hundred  feet  high;  on  the  top  was  a  broad 
area,  on  which  stood  one  or  two  towers,  the  dread- 
ful stone  of  sacrifice,  and  altars  with  the  perpetual, 
inextinguishable  fire.  Six  hundred  of  these  ever- 
burning altars  were  within  the  inclosure  of  the 
great  temple  of  Mexico,  and  during  the  night  illu- 
minated the  whole  city  with  their  flame.  Every 
month  was  consecrated  to  some  protecting  deity, 
and  almost  every  day  fixed  in  the  calendar  for 
some  appropriate  celebration.  Many  of  these 
were  of  a  festive  sort,  consisting  of  light  songs 
and  dances.  Processions  of  women  and  children, 
bearing  fruits  and  garlands,  alternated  with  the 
procession  of  the  priests,  winding  round  the  mas- 
sive sides  of  the  temples  in  full  view  of  the  peo- 
ple. So  in  the  Pan-Athenaic  processions  at  Athens, 
they  circled  the  Parthenon  behind  the  colonnades, 
appearing  and  disappearing  as  they  passed  behind 
the  columns.  In  the  Mexican  ceremonies'  the 
priests  were  visible  from  the  furthest  parts  of  the 
capital,  as  they  circled  the  pyramid,  rising  higher 
and  higher,  from  terrace  to  terrace,  toward  the 
summit  and  its  altar  of  sacrifice. 

Beside  a  supreme  deity,  the  Aztecs  worshipped 
thirteen  others  of  the  first  rank,  and  two  hundred 
or  more  of  a  lower  rank.     One  was  the  God  of 


ORIGIN   AND    DEVELOPMENT    OF    RELIGIONS.     99 

War,  to  Mliom  multitudes  of  human  victims  were 
sacrificed.  Another,  a  more  humane  being,  was 
God  of  the  Air,  patron  of  agriculture,  and  giver 
of  happy  days. 

Exactly  as  in  the  Brahmanic  and  Egyptian  sys- 
tems, there  was  the  conception  of  one  Supreme 
Being,  only  partially  eclipsed  by  the  later  Poly- 
theism ;  we  also  find  here  pure  moral  teachings, 
and  simple,  happy  forms  of  worship,  associated 
with  the  awful  cruelties  of  human  sacrifice.  In 
the  formula  for  confession  and  remission  of  sins, 
the  early  moral  teaching  and  the  later  horrors 
are  seen  together.  The  priest  said :  "  0  merciful 
Lord,  thou  who  knowest  the  secrets  of  all  hearts, 
let  thy  forgiveness  descend,  like  pure  water,  to 
wash  away  the  stains  from  the  soul.  Thou  know- 
est this  man  has  sinned,  not  from  his  own  free 
will,  but  from  the  influence  of  the  sign  under 
which  he  was  born."  After  enjoining  various 
penances  and  mortifications,  among  which  he  is 
commanded  especially  to  procure  a  slave  to  be 
sacrificed  to  the  Deity,  the  priest  concludes  by  in- 
culcating charity  to  the  poor.  "  Clothe  the  naked 
and  feed  the  hungry,"  he  says,  "for  remember, 
their  flesh  is  thine,  and  they  are  men  like  thee.'' 
By  the  confession  of  the  missionaries,  the  virgins 
and  youth  dedicated  to  God  were  pure  and  full  of 
devotion.  But  with  this  were  combined  the  bloody 
sacrifices,  which,   according  to    the  native  tradi- 


100  TEN    GREAT   EELIGION'S. 

tions,  began  only  about  two  hundred  years  before 
the  Spanish  conquest.  These  horrible  sacrifices 
reached  an  extent  unparalleled  in  the  history  of 
any  other  religion.  On  those  accursed  altars  the 
number  of  human  victims  has  never  been  esti- 
mated at  less  than  twenty  thous'and  every  year. 
The  skulls  were  preserved,  and  the  Spaniards 
counted  in  one  building  136,000.  All  this  was 
done  as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  religious  duty, 
just  as  the  Inquisitors  in  Spain  burned  Jews  and 
heretics,  and  just  as  Alva  murdered  the  Protestants 
in  Holland.  These  horrors  are  in  all  cases  the  sio;n 
of  a  degenerate  religion.  And  such  religions,  for- 
tunately, must  either  be  reformed,  or  come  to  an 
end.  The  Inquisition,  with  its  horrors,  has  been 
reformed  out  of  the  Roman  Church ;  the  worship 
of  Moloch  in  Syria,  and  the  savage  cruelties  of 
Mexico,  brought  about  the  destruction  of  both 
these  religions. 


THE    IDEA   OF    GOD   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.        101 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    EELIGIONS.        ANIMISM, 
POLYTHEISM,    PANTHEISM. 

§  1.  Analysis  of  the  idea  of  Deity.  God  as  Creator,  Supreme 
Being,  Infinite  Being,  Providence,  Justice,  Holiness,  Unity. 
§  2.  Animism  as  the  lowest  form  of  religious  belief.  The 
Idol  or  Fetich  in  all  religions.  §  3.  Polytheism  in  all  relig- 
ions. Origin  of  Polytheism.  §  4.  Pantheism  in  all  religions. 
Evils  of  Pantheism.  §  5.  The  Truth  in  Polytheism.  La- 
tent Monotheism  in  Polytheism.  §  6.  Truth  in  Pantheism. 
§  7.  The  Imperfect  Monotheism  of  the  Buddhists.  §  8.  The 
conception  of  God  the  important  matter  ;  the  name  given  to 
him  unimportant. 

§  1.  Analysis  of  the  idea  of  God. 

T3EF0RE  speaking  of  the  Idea  of  God  as  it 
"^  exists  in  different  religions,  we  must  first 
inquire  what  this  idea  is?  and  whether  it  is  sim- 
ple or  compound,  primitive  or  derivative,  given  by 
intuition  or  formed  by  experience. 

That  the  idea  of  God  is  not  simple  but  complex 
appears  as  soon  as  we  analyze  it.  Sometimes  we 
call  God  creator  of  all  things.  But  that  this  is 
no  necessary  conception  of  the  Deity  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  in  many  religions  this  notion  is 


102  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

absent.  Thus  it  is  absent  from  the  vast  system  of 
Buddhism,  which  omits  an  intelHgent  will  as  the 
author  of  the  universe,  and  declares  that  things 
rise  and  fall,  come  and  go  by  nature.  It  is  also 
absent  from  the  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  gods  themselves,  no  less  than 
men,  were  developments  from  Chaos.  Zeus,  the 
supreme  God,  was  not  the  author  of  the  universe, 
but  was  evolved  from  a  lower  type  of  deity. 
Some  of  the  philosophers  taught  the  creation  of 
the  universe  by  the  supreme  being  as  self-revela- 
tion ;  but  this  conception  made  no  part  of  the  pop- 
ular religion,  as  it  does  in  the  teaching  of  Zoroas- 
ter and  of  Moses. 

Another  part  of  our  own  idea  of  Deity  is  that 
of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  sovereign  ruler  of  all 
things.  This  is  evidently  a  different  notion  from 
that  of  Creator,  and  may  exist  apart  from  it. 
Thus  among  the  Greeks  Zeus  came  to  be  regarded 
as  the  supreme  ruler  of  the  world,  and  appears  as 
such  even  in  Homer,  though  that  poet  never  sug- 
gests that  he  was  the  creator  of  the  world.  So, 
likewise,  in  Buddhism.  The  Buddha  is  the  su- 
preme ruler  of  the  universe  at  the  present  time, 
though  not  its  creator,  since  it  existed  before 
Buddha  himself  began  to  be.^ 

Another  form  which  the  idea  of  Deity  takes  in 

*  Zeus  in  the  Greek  mythology  was  sometimes  regarded  as  having 
supreme  power,  but  never  as  possessing  perfect  goodness. 


THE  IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.    103 

our  minds,  is  that  of  the  infinite  being  ;  the  God 
who  is  omnipotent  and  omniscient,  all-wise,  and 
all-mighty.  And  yet  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of 
a  beino;  infinite  in  some  attributes,  and  not  so  in 
others.  The  Deity  may  be  regarded  as  supreme 
and  infinite  power,  but  not  as  supreme  and  infinite 
goodness  ;  or  the  reverse.^ 

Still  another  conception  of  the  deity  is  that  of 
Providence,  which  always  is  a  part  of  our  own  idea 
of  God,  but  which  is  not  necessarily  contained  in 
that  of  ruler.  A  deity  may  govern  his  creatures, 
without  caring  for  them ;  he  may  reward  and  pun- 
ish, without  providing  for  their  individual  needs. 
This  conception  of  God  as  providence,  which  is  ex- 
pressed so  strongly  (for  example)  in  the  Psalms  of 
David,  is  wanting  in  many  other  religions.  The 
Greek  gods  took  very  little  interest  in  human  af- 
fairs, and  when  they  did,  were  mostly  moved  by 
caprice  or  personal  whim.  In  most  religions  the 
deities  might  be  placated  by  prayers  or  sacrifices, 
and  so  induced  to  aid  the  suppliant  whom  other- 
wise they  had  no  intention  to  help. 

1  Even  in  our  time  John  Stuart  Mill  thought  it  probable,  from  his 
consideration  of  the  problem  of  evil,  that  though  the  Deity  is  per- 
fectly good,  he  is  not  all-powerful.  So  also  in  the  system  of  Zoroas- 
ter, Ormazd  is  all-good,  but  limited  in  his  power  by  Ahrinian.  In 
some  parts  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  power  of  Satan  has  been  so 
intensified,  that  it  has  been  a  limitation  to  the  Divine  omnipotence. 
God  has  been  regarded  as  ruling  over  heaven,  Satan  as  absolute  over 
hell,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  earth  as  divided  between  them. 


104  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Infinite  Justice  also  forms  a  part  of  our  con- 
ception of  deity.  This  is  his  prominent  attribute 
in  the  Jewish  religion,  commonly  taking  the  form 
of  rewarding  the  good  and  punishing  the  wicked. 
But  in  Judaism  this  retributive  justice  is  limited  to 
the  present  life.  In  the  religion  of  Egypt,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  limited  to  the  future  life.  Man  is 
left  here  free  to  work  out  his  own  will,  but  must 
appear  hereafter  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Osiris  to 
be  rewarded  or  punished.  A  similar  imperfect  ret- 
ribution hereafter  is  to  be  found  in  the  relis-ions 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  Christianity  has  usually 
dropjoed  the  Jewish  conception  of  a  present  retri- 
bution, and  adopted  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of  a 
future  judgment  and  future  retribution. 

Still  another  part  of  our  idea  of  Deity  is  Holi- 
ness. This  also  made  an  essential  element  in  the 
Jewish  conception,  but  is  hardly  to  be  found  else- 
where except  in  the  teachings  of  Zoroaster.  That 
God  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity,  that 
he  loves  good  and  hates  evil  by  his  very  nature ; 
that  is  that  he  is  essentially  a  'moral  being,  and 
that  right  and  wrong  are  not  tnade  so  by  his  will, 
but  become  so  in  accordance  with  his  very  essence, 
this  is  a  conception  of  the  deity  which  we  chiefly 
derive  from  Judaism.      [ 

I  have  emphasized  the  fact  that  if  the  deity  is  a 
moral  being,  and  has  a  moral  character,  actually 
loving   goodness  and    alien   from    evil,   then   the 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD   IN   ALL   KELIGIONS.         105 

foundation  of  duty  is  not  in  the  arbitrary  will, 
but  in  the  essential  nature  of  God,  Eight  is  right, 
not  because  God  commands  it,  but  he  commands  it 
because  it  is  right.  Goodness  does  not  consist  in 
obedience  to  the  divine  will,  but  in  conformity  to 
the  divine  character.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  is  one  of  its  noblest  character- 
istics. In  this  point  of  view  Mohammedanism  is  a 
relapse,  and  is  lower  than  Judaism ;  for  it  makes 
God  only  an  arbitrary  sovereign,  whose  will  is  to 
Jbe  obeyed  without  any  reference  to  its  moral  char- 
acter. Ultra  Calvinism  has  sometimes  taken  a  sim- 
ilar ground. 

And  again.  Monotheism,  or  the  divine  unity,  is 
still  another  part  of  our  conception  of  Deity.  A 
being  may  be  sovereign,  holy,  wise,  good,  in  the 
highest  possible  degree,  and  yet  not  be  the  One 
Alone.  It  is  certainly  possible  to  conceive  of  such 
a  being  as  supreme  among  others  like  himself, 
which  was  the  Greek  conception  of  Zeus  presiding 
on  Olympus  over  a  council  of  deities.  The  other 
conception,  which  we  call  Monotheism,  and  which 
seems  to  us  so  natural,  is  one  which  the  human 
race  has  found  it  hard  to  attain  and  difficult  to 
keep.  It  easily  passes  into  Polytheism  on  the  one 
side  and  Pantheism  on  the  other.  When  we  re- 
gard the  Deity  as  the  infinite  substance,  filling  all 
in  all ;  as  the  infinite  life  in  organization  and 
growth  ;  as  the  motive  power  or  infinite  force  in 


106  TEN    GEE  AT    RELIGIONS. 

nature,  as  the  absolute  being  on  whom  every- 
thing else  depends,  we  easily  go  over  into  that 
Pantheism  which  says  that  everything  is  God. 

The  tendency,  however,  in  most  religions,  has 
been  in  the  opposite  direction,  namely,  toward  Poly- 
theism. Religions  based  on  the  worship  of  natu- 
ral objects  are  polytheistic,  for  the  outward  world 
manifests  variety  more  than  unity. 

One  more  form  assumed  by  the  idea  of  Deity 
must  be  spoken  of.  Whenever  the  distinction  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil  is  strongly 
dwelt  upon,  it  becomes  difficult  to  attribute  both 
principles  to  one  and  the  same  being.  Then 
comes  Ditheism,  or  the  doctrine  of  two  gods,  hos- 
tile  to  each  other :  one  God,  the  author  of  lisrht 
and  good,  the  other  of  darkness  and  evil.  This 
view  appears  most  strongly  in  the  religion  of  Zo- 
roaster, the  essential  idea  of  which  is  of  a  perpet- 
ual war  between  the  powers  of  light  and  of  dark- 
ness. An  evil  being,  armed  with  terrible  power  to 
create  evil  and  tempt  to  sin,  also  appears  as  Ty- 
phon  in  Egypt,  as  Siva  in  India,  as  Loke  in  Scan- 
dinavia, and  as  Satan  among  the  Jews,  Christians, 
and  Mohammedans. 

We  therefore  see  that  the  fully-developed  idea 
of  the  Deity  is  a  very  complex  one,  certainly  in- 
cluding these  elements :  — 

1.  The  Supernatural  Being,  or  one  above  na- 
ture. 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.         107 

2.  The  Creator  of  all  things,  or  the  First 
Cause. 

3.  The  Supreme  Being,  or  the  Euler  of  all 
things. 

4.  The  Infinite  Being,  regarded  as  infinite  in 
one  or  more  attributes. 

5.  The  Perfect  Being,  or  infinite  in  all  attri- 
butes. 

6.  As  Providence,  or  a  being  caring  for  his  crea- 
tures, and  providing  for  them. 

7.  A  Holy  Being,  or  one  having  a  moral  charac- 
ter, and  in  whom  the  distinction  between  good 
and  evil  is  in  his  nature,  not  merely  his  will. 

8.  The  Substance  which  gives  reality  to  the 
universe. 

9.  As  Law,  extending  through  all  things,  giving 
permanence  to  the  order  of  the  universe. 

10.  As  Love,  or  universal  fatherhood,  inspiring 
Hope  for  unlimited  good  to  all. 

11.  As  Unity,  or  the  One  alone. 

Now  these  eleven  different  ideas  enter  into  the 
most  advanced  conception  of  Deity,  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree.  The  complete  idea,  therefore,  is  com- 
plex, and  not  simple. 

§  2.  Animism,  as  the  Loivest  Form  of  Religion. 

The  lowest  aspect  of  faith,  Mr.  Tylor  has  called 
Animism,  as  we  said  in  our  last  chapter.  By  this 
he  means  the  belief  in  spiritual  powers,  as  opposed 


108  TEN    GREAT    RELIGTOT^S. 

to  the  whole  philosophy  of  materialism.  This  he 
holds  to  be  the  groundwork  of  the  philosophy  of 
religion  in  all  mankind,  from  the  lowest  savage 
up  to  civilized  man.  It  implies  a  universal  spirit- 
ual sense  planted  in  human  nature,  and  developed 
by  outward  influences.  In  its  lowest  forms,  it 
attributes  all  events  of  which  the  natural  cause 
is  unknown,  to  supernatural  agency;  fortunate 
events  to  some  good  power ;  evils  and  disaster,  to 
some  malignant  beings.  The  good  are  worshipped ; 
the  bad  are  placated. 

This  belief  in  the  presence  of  spiritual  beings 
above  and  around  us,  reappears  in  all  religions, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  The  great  ethnic 
religions  of  the  world  suppose  this  visible  human 
Hfe  to  be  surrounded  by  a  vast  shadowy  world  of 
invisible  superhuman  beings:  the  sun  and  moon, 
the  stars  and  planets,  the  ocean,  guided  and  moved 
by  these  demigods.  Even  the  severe  Monotheism 
of  Judea  accepted  from  Persia  a  family  of  angels 
and  archangels  —  Michael,  Gabriel,  Raphael,  —  be- 
ings who  were  the  messengers  and  mediators  be- 
tween God  and  man.  In  Greece,  as  we  know,  the 
air,  land,  sea,  woods,  springs,  were  each  the  home 
of  some  spiritual  power. 

Christianity,  which  often  assimilates  the  ideas 
and  practices  of  other  religions,  has  also  had  its 
pantheon  of  angels  and  archangels,  saints  and 
spirits.     Only  Protestantism  has  rejected  this  vast 


THE   IDEA    OF    GOD   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.         109 

mythology.    But  even  Milton,  the  most  Protestant 
of  Protestants,  makes  Adam  inform  Eve  that  — 

"  Millions  of  spiritual  creatures  walk  the  earth 
Unseen,  both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep; 
All  these  with  ceaseless  praise  God's  works  behold 
Both  day  and  night.     How  often  from  the  steep 
Of  echoinf  hill  or  thicket  have  we  heard 
Celestial  voices  to  the  midnight  air 
Singing  their  great  Creator." 

The  Idol  or  Fetich,  comes  also  very  easily  upon 
the  scene.  It  is  a  material  object  with  which  some 
magical  power  is  supposed  to  be  associated.  Some 
supernatural  being  acts  through  the  fetich  and  is 
permanently  connected  with  it.  Aladdin's  lamp, 
in  the  Arabian  story,  was  a  fetich,  which  had  genii 
attached  to  it.  The  first  man  who  saw  a  loadstone 
attract  iron,  no  doubt  considered  it  to  possess  magi- 
cal power.  Whoever  nails  a  horseshoe  over  a  stable 
door,  or  throws  a  slipper  after  a  wedding  party, 
practices  a  sort  of  Fetichism  to-day.  But  people 
may  believe  in  fetiches  without  worshipping  them. 
Father  Loyer,  a  Catholic  missionary,  who  studied 
the  habits  of  the  natives  of  the  Gold  Coast,  says  it 
is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  negroes  re- 
gard these  things  as  gods.  They  are  only  charms, 
or  amulets.  These  negroes,  Father  Loyer  says, 
have  a  belief  in  one  powerful  being,  to  whom  they 
offer  prayers.  Every  morning  they  wash  in  the 
river,  put  sand  on  their  head  to  express  their  hu- 


110  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

mility,  and  lifting  up  their  hands  ask  their  God  to 
give  them  yams  and  rice  and  other  blessings. 

The  excellent  missionary  Oldendorp,  who  took 
great  pains  to  become  accurately  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  negroes  of  Africa,  assures  us 
that  he  reco2:nized  amonoj  them  a  universal  belief 
in  the  existence  of  a  God,  who  made  the  world, 
who  thunders  to  show  his  displeasure,  and  sends 
rain  when  he  is  pleased.  Oldendorp  says:  "Among 
all  the  black  nations  with  whom  I  became  ac- 
quainted, even  the  most  ignorant,  there  is  none 
who  does  not  believe  in  a  God,  give  him  a  name, 
and  regard  him  as  maker  of  the  world.  Besides 
this  supreme  beneficent  Deity,  whom  they  all  wor- 
ship, they  believe  in  many  inferior  gods,  whose 
powers  appear  in  serpents,  tigers,  rivers,  trees,  and 
stones.  Some  of  them  are  malevolent,  but  the 
negroes  do  not  worship  the  bad  or  cruel  gods; 
they  only  try  to  appease  them  by  presents  or 
sacrifices.  They  pray  to  the  good  gods  alone. 
The  daily  prayer  of  a  Watja  negress  was,  '  0  God, 
I  know  thee  not ;  but  thou  knowest  me ;  I  need 
thy  help.' " 

Let  us  not  despise  the  savage  and  his  fetich. 
We  all  have  our  fetiches;  some  little  relics  to 
which  we  attach  a  value  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  real  worth  of  the  article.  The  British  Museum 
gave  £300  for  a  signature  of  Shakespeare.  Pro- 
fessor Lesley  showed  to  an  audience  in  one  of  the 


THE  IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.    Ill 

Lowell  Lectures  a  nail,  from  the  prison  in  Virginia, 
on  which  John  Brown  hung  his  hat.  The  battle- 
flags  at  the  State  House,  borne  on  many  a  terrible 
field,  are  religiously  preserved,  and  are  sacred  for- 
ever. A  little  bone,  supposed  to  have  belonged  to 
a  dead  saint,  is  a  present  for  a  Pope  to  give  to  an 
Emperor.  Moslems  go  thousands  of  miles  to  see 
the  black  stone  at  Mecca ;  Christians  go  as  far  to 
see  the  house  where  Burns  was  born,  that  in  which 
Wordsworth  lived,  the  tomb  of  Virgil  on  the  Bay 
of  Naples,  or  the  grave  at  Keats  at  Rome. 

"  Such  graves  as  these  are  pilgrim  shines, 
Shrines  to  no  code  or  creed  confined, 
The  Delphian  vales,  the  Palestines, 
The  Meccas  of  the  mind." 

Thus  Fetich-worship  has  survived,  and  continues 
to-day  in  new  forms,  in  the  midst  of  our  highest 
civilization ;  the  same  sentiment  in  the  bosom  of 
the  savage  and  in  our  own. 

And  what  of  Idolatry  ?  The  childlike  man  tries 
to  form  his  block  of  stone  into  something  like  the 
figure  of  a  man.  He  only  succeeds  in  making  a 
hideous  and  horrible  face.  But  it  suggests  to  his 
mind  some  human  feeling  of  authority,  power, 
divine  wrath  against  evil-doers,  divine  benignity 
toward  docile  worshippers.  To  his  dark  mind  it 
does  the  same  thing  that  the  Phidian  Zeus  did  for 
the  Pan-Hellenic  multitudes  at  Olympia,  or  the  vir- 


112  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

gin  goddess,  who  stood  in  glorious  beauty  before 
the  Parthenon  for  the  Athenians;  or  what  an  altar- 
piece,  by  Raffaelle,  does  for  the  worshippers  in  St. 
Peters.  These  images  help  them  all  to  fix  their 
mind  on  the  highest  idea  they  have  of  a  super- 
human majesty,  a  celestial  benignity.  No  doubt 
the  savage  may  worship  the  idol  itself,  instead  of 
that  which  it  symbolizes.  He  then  worships  the 
letter  which  kills,  instead  of  the  spirit  which  gives 
life.  But  even  so  may  Christians  idolize  the  let- 
ter of  their  ritual,  their  creed,  their  church,  their 
Bible,  and  sacrifice  the  end  to  the  means.  Idols 
or  images  are  good  or  bad,  as  they  are  used  or 
abused. 

§  3.  Polytheism  in  all  Religions.     Its  Origin. 

Some  elements  of  Polytheism  are  to  be  found 
in  all  religions,  but  differ  in  each,  both  quantita- 
tively and  qualitatively.  Polytheism  is  least  in 
the  Prophetic  Religions;  most  in  the  Ethnic 
Religions. 

The  Polytheism  of  Egypt  inhered  in  the  nature 
of  things;  the  Divine  elements  were  seen  dwelling 
in  Nature.  The  Polytheism  of  Greece  had  become 
detached ;  the  Greek  deities  were  not  personifica- 
tions, but  persons.  They  were  divine  men  and 
women,  no  longer  representing  Sun,  Moon,  Stars, 
Thunder,  Clouds,  Dawn,  Fire,  Ocean,  though 
traces  of  this  origin  remain.      But  they  sat  on 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.         113 

Olympus  in  gay  festivity  till  the  horses  of  the  Sun 
were  unyoked,  and  then  lay  down  to  sleep  like 
mortals.  No  moral  quality  attaches  to  the  gods  of 
Egypt ;  they  are  too  impersonal  for  that.  Nor  is 
there  much  morality  yet  in  the  gods  of  Greece ; 
they  are  only  full  of  joyful  life.  There  was  a  high 
moral  life  among  the  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Ro- 
mans, but  not  derived  from  their  gods.  The  gods 
of  Greece  were  willful  creatures,  and  Plato  banished 
from  his  republic  the  poets  who  described  their 
disreputable  proceedings,  meaning,  no  doubt,  to 
say  that  to  worship  such  gods  as  those  was  worse 
than  Atheism. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Polytheism  of  India  we 
meet  with  still  another  quality.  In  the  Vedic 
Hymns  we  find  no  large  abstract  ideas  as  in  the 
gods  of  Egypt,  and  no  pure  humanities  as  in 
Greece,  but  the  forces  of  nature  spiritualized  into 
objects  of  reverence  and  love. 

Besides  the  Supreme  Being  —  dimly  or  plainly 
recognized  in  all  Polytheisms  —  and  the  gods  of 
the  higher  order  beneath  him,  there  is  also  a  host 
of  inferior  gods,  or  Demi-gods,  Spirits,  Demons, 
Angels,  Powers,  filling  the  whole  interspace  be- 
tween the  Gods  and  men.  The  vast  mythologies  of 
India,  Persia,  Egypt,  Scandinavia,  Greece,  Rome, 
testify  to  the  faith  in  the  human  soul  that  between 
our  finite  spirit  and  the  Infinite  Spirit,  there  are 
and  must  be  innumerable  moral  and  intellectual 


114  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

beings  extending  upward  in  long  gradation.  Re- 
garding man  either  as  developed  by  Natural  Law, 
or  created  by  God,  it  is  impossible  to  believe 
him  the  only  moral  intelligence  in  the  Universe 
below  the  Supreme  Being.  If  he  was  developed 
by  some  Law  of  Evolution,  must  not  that  law, 
working  through  long  ages  and  aeons  of  time,  and 
through  innumerable  worlds  of  space,  have  suc- 
ceeded in  developing  numerous  beings  higher  than 
he?  And  if  he  were  created  by  the  Will  of  God, 
has  God  during  the  whole  past  eternity  only  cre- 
ated this  one  feebly  endowed  spirit?  When  we 
look  into  ourselves,  we  find  capacities  and  pow- 
ers in  their  germ  and  beginnings,  which  we  can 
conceive  of  as  being  indefinitely  developed.  We 
find  intelligence,  which  reaches  upward  from  the 
contrivances  of  a  savage  to  the  majestic  powers 
of  a  Newton  or  a  Shakespeare,  which  can  weigh 
the  sun  in  its  scales,  fix  the  return  of  a  comet, 
or  mark  out  the  path  of  the  planet  which  moves 
on  its  lonely  way,  in  the  farthest  outer  darkness 
of  our  solar  system.  We  find  moral  powers 
which  pass  all  the  way  up  from  the  besotted  soul 
of  a  brutal  criminal  to  the  heroes  and  martyrs, 
who  have  counted  it  all  joy  to  live  and  die  for 
truth,  conscience,  and  human  welfare.  Does  the 
long  ascent  stop  here  ?  We  can  imagine  beings, 
who,  though  created  by  God,  are  yet  so  vastly 
above  man  that  our  highest  intelligence  may  seem 


THE    IDEA   OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  115 

only  darkness  to  their  light ;  onr  noblest  virtue 
only  childlike  attempts  by  the  side  of  their  majes- 
tic fulfillment.  This  is  one  of  the  possibilities  of 
existence  which,  as  we  contemplate  it,  becomes  at 
last  almost  a  self-evident  truth.  Polytheism,  in 
all  its  forms,  is  the  crude  aspect  which  this  belief 
takes  in  the  working  of  the  natural  instincts.  The 
great  majority  of  men  believe,  and  have  ever  be- 
lieved, in  hosts  of  beings  between  themselves  and 
the  Most  High.  We  have  glanced  at  the  gods  of 
the  Egyptian  and  Hindu  Pantheon.  Those  of 
Greece  and  of  Rome  crowded  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  filled  the  woods  as  dryads,  called  from 
the  mountains  as  oreads,  splashed  in  the  foun- 
tains as  naiads,  rolled  in  the  ocean  as  nereids,  or 
tritons.  They  sat  by  the  fireside  as  penates  or 
Vesta,  guarded  the  home  as  lares.  Everything 
had  its  tutelar  genius ;  nations,  colonies,  provinces, 
the  senate,  sleep.  There  were  deities  of  the  hu- 
man soul.  Mens,  Pudicitia,  Pietas,  Fides.  Agri- 
culture and  rural  occupations  had  their  deities: 
Tellus,  Saturnus,  Ops,  Silvanus,  Faunus,  Terminus, 
Ceres,  Liber,  Bona  Dea,  Magna  Mater,  Flora,  Ver- 
tumnus,  Pomona,  Pales.  Thus  the  human  soul  put 
spirit  into  all  things,  saw  spirit  everywhere.  This 
we  now  call  superstition,  and  consider  ourselves 
wise  because  we  see  only  matter  and  motion. 

But  it  is  a  question  whether  the  old  Paganism 
which  filled  the  world  with  life,  thought,  and  love, 


116  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

is  not,  at  least,  as  true  as  the  modern  Paganism 
which  makes  it  only  a  dead  machine. 

§  4.  Pantheism  in  all  Religions.     Its   evils. 

Polytheism  may  be  absorbed  by  a  Monotheistic 
religion,  as  happened  to  the  Polytheisms  of  Greece, 
Rome,  and  Scandinavia,  which  were  taken  up  into 
Christianity,  and  as  happened  to  the  semi-poly- 
theistic Christianity  of  the  East,  which  was  ab- 
sorbed by  Mohammedanism ;  or  Polytheism  may 
pass  naturally  into  some  form  of  Pantheism.  We 
will,  therefore,  look  at  Pantheism  in  all  religions, 
for  it  is  to  be  found  more  or  less  prominently 
in  all. 

In  the  most  marked  form  Pantheism  appears 
in  the  Hindu  Religion.  The  Vedic  Hymns,  Poly- 
theistic in  appearance,  were  Pantheistic  in  sub- 
stance. 

This  is  expressed  by  a  hymn  of  the  Rig- Veda 
(Mandala  x.  90),  thus  rendered 'by  Monier  Wil- 
liams :  — 

"  The  embodied  spirit  has  a  thousand  heads, 
A  thousand  eyes,  a  thousand  feet;  around, 
On  every  side,  enveloping  the  earth; 
Yet  filling  space  no  larger  than  a  span, 
He  is  himself  this  very  Universe ; 
He  is  whatever  is,  has  been,  shall  be  ; 
He  is  the  Lord  of  Immortality." 

Pantheism,  in  its  extreme  development,  is  the 
assertion  that  the  Universe  is  God,  and  that  God 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD   IN   ALL    EELIGIONS.         117 

is  the  Universe.  It  is  the  opposite  pole  to  Athe- 
ism, which  says  that  Nothing  is  God.  Pantheism 
says,  "  Everything  is  God."  This  is  the  false  Pan- 
theism, equally  unphilosophical  and  immoral.  It  is 
unphilosophical  because  denying  the  necessary  con- 
victions of  the  Reason  and  first  Laws  of  Thought. 
God  is  infinite  Being  ;  but  we  are  compelled  to 
believe  in  the  reality  of  finite  outward  existences, 
which  are  therefore  not  God.  We  are  compelled 
by  the  ultimate  necessity  of  reason  to  believe  in 
the  reality  of  our  own  existence,  which  we  also 
know  to  be  finite,  limited,  and  dependent,  con- 
sequently not  the  infinite  and  absolute  Being. 
Extreme  Pantheism  is  therefore  unphilosophical. 
It  is  also  immoral,  because,  if  all  things  are  God, 
then  bad  actions  as  well  as  good  are  divine,  and 
the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong  disap- 
pears. Hence  the  low  morality  of  the  Hindus, 
on  whom  this  teaching  has  been  at  work  for  so 
many  centuries ;  hence  also  the  immoral  practices 
reappearing  in  those  Christian  sects  which  claim 
perfect  union  with  God,  and  to  whom  the  moral 
law  has  ceased  to  exist. 

Buddhism  was  a  moral  reaction  against  Hindu 
Pantheism ;  and  when  Buddhism  was  expelled 
from  India,  the  full  fruits  of  this  system  of  Pan- 
theism appeared  in  luxury,  falsehood,  cruelty,  and 
slavery.  The  moral  tone  of  the  race  seemed  al- 
most gone.     But  not  wholly.     The  better  spirit  of 


118  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

the  earlier  Sacred  Writings  sometimes  reappears 
even  in  the  Puranas,  and  an  imperfect  Monothe- 
ism, which  worships  either  Vishnu,  Siva,  or  Brah- 
ma, contends  steadily  against  this  stress  of  Pan- 
theism. But  this  remained  as  the  leading  tendency 
of  thought,  appearing  in  the  Upanishads,  the  Ba- 
ghavat-Geeta,  and  the  great  systems  of  philosophy. 
Thus  it  is  said  in  a  Upanishad,  "  All  this  universe 
is  Brahma,  From  him  it  proceeds,  into  him  it  is 
dissolved." 

There  is  no  Religion  in  which  we  do  not  recog- 
nize this  element  of  Pantheistic  faith.  Even  in 
prosaic  China,  with  its  Monotheism  and  its  worship 
of  spirits,  appears  the  impersonal,  absolute,  all- 
containing  Tao.  Of  Tao  we  read,  "  We  look  at  it 
and  do  not  see  it,  listen  to  it  and  do  not  hear  it. 
It  cannot  be  defined  ;  it  acts,  but  without  a  name. 
It  was  chaos  before  the  birth  of  the  worlds  ;  with- 
out form,  standing  alone,  unchanging  ;  the  mother 
of  all  things.  It  passes  on  in  perpetual  flow  ;  it  is 
far  off,  but  close  at  hand  ;  it  is  the  law  which  rules 
all  thing's." 

Among  the  intensely  personal  Deities  of  Greece 
the  great  Pan  was  also  found,  representing  the  All. 
The  Pantheism  of  the  Orphic  theology  appears  in 
what  remains  of  that  old  semi-religious  philoso- 
phy, as  in  a  poem  preserved  by  Proclus,  which 
says  :  — 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.         119 

"  Zeus  is  first,  last,  the  head  and  the  middle  of  all  things. 
From  him  all  things  come.     He  is  man  and  woman, 
The  depth  of  the  earth,  the  height  of  Heaven, 
Sun,  Moon,  Stars,  Fire  —  Origin  of  all,  King  of  all, 
One  Power,  God,  Ruler." 

No  system  of  thought  would  seem  more  remote 
from  Pautheism  than  that  of  Mohammed ;  and 
yet  the  great  Persian  sect  of  Ssufis  are  mystical 
Pantheists.  One  of  the  chief  of  these,  a  saint  of 
the  twelfth  century,  who  lived  at  Balkh,  uttered 
many  Pantheistic  sentiments.  His  name  was  Jelal- 
ed-deddin.  He  was  the  author  of  the  saying, 
"  When  we  cry  in  our  prayer,  '  0  my  Father,'  the 
answer  is  in  the  prayer  itself ;  in  the  '  My  Father ' 
lies  hidden  ^  Here,  my  child.'  " 

Bustamius,  another  of  the  Ssufis  saints,  says,  "  I 
myself  am  the  sea  which  has  neither  bottom  nor 
shore." 

Again  he  said,  "  While  men  think  they  are  wor- 
shipping God,  it  is  in  fact  God  who  adores  him- 
self," 

Again  he  cried  out,  "  How  long,  0  my  God,  art 
thou  pleased  that  I  should  thus  remain  between 
the  Myself  and  the  Thyself.  Take  away  from  me 
the  Myself,  that  I  may  be  absorbed  into  the  Thy- 
self." 

§  5.   The  Truth  in  Polytheism.     Latent  Monotheism. 

If  we  ask  now,  "  What  is  the  truth  of  Polythe- 
ism ?  "  it  may  be  said  that  the  doctrine  of  many 


120  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Gods  is  wholl}^  false  to  us,  because  Christianity 
has  given  to  the  word  God  such  a  subUme  mean- 
ing, and  associated  it  with  the  idea  of  Infinite  and 
Eternal  Being,  But  to  the  mind  of  antiquity, 
even  to  that  of  Judea,  the  word  possessed  no  such 
quality.  The  Gods  of  the  old  world  were  finite 
beings,  scarcely  raised  above  the  level  of  human 
nature.  Jesus  himself  tells  us  that  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament those  "  were  called  Gods  to  whom  the  word 
of  God  came  "  —  that  is,  inspired  men  were  called 
Gods.  Polytheism  peopled  the  space  above  our 
world  with  superhuman  and  supernatural  beings, 
all  the  way  up  to  the  realm  of  the  Infinite  and 
Eternal.  Judaism,  in  its  strict  Monotheism,  al- 
lowed only  angels  or  divine  messengers.  It  placed 
God  apart  from  the  world  and  above  the  world  as 
its  sole  ruler,  in  an  unapproached  majesty.  Moses, 
in  a  natural  reaction  of  mind  against  the  innumer- 
able deities  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon,  based  his 
whole  relio-ion  on  the  doctrine  declared  in  the  First 
Commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other 
God  in  my  Presence." 

But  which  is  the  most  true,  the  solitary  sover- 
eignty sometimes  ascribed  by  the  Jewish  mind  to 
Jehovah,  or  that  one  feature  of  Polytheism  which 
makes  a  divine  community,  a  communion  of  the 
Most  High  with  his  creatures  ?  God,  according 
to  Christianity,  is  essentially  Love.  This  is  the 
very  essence  of  his  Being.     The  most  essential 


THE  IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  EELIGIONS.    121 

attribute  is  not  Power,  is  not  Sovereignty,  as 
Mohammedanism  and  Calvinism  both  make  it  to 
be,  but  Love.  That  means,  not  loneUness,  but 
communion.  It  means  that  God  descends  into  all 
just  as  far  as  they  are  capable  of  receiving  him. 
And  are  men  the  only  moral  beings  in  the  uni- 
verse ?  Can  we  doubt  that  there  are  innumerable 
beino^s  hio-her  than  man,  of  such  vast  intellio^ence, 
of  such  lofty  moral  nature,  so  much  nearer  to  the 
One  Above  in  their  knowledge  and  sympathy  that 
they  can  receive  much  more  of  his  fullness  than 
we  can  ?  Christianity  has  attempted  to  fill  the 
void  between  our  estate  and  that  of  the  Infinite 
Father,  by  creating  a  heaven  of  Angels  and  Arch- 
angels, and  a  wdiole  calendar  of  Saints.  Its  lit- 
anies unite  our  prayers  with  those  of  the  holy 
company  of  the  apostles,  the  goodly  fellowship  of 
the  prophets,  and  the  noble  army  of  martyrs. 
These  are  all  human  like  ourselves,  but  ascended 
up  into  a  higher  world.  In  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  the  Church  has  endeavored  to  formulate 
the  communion  of  God  and  his  creation :  reo-ard- 
ing  the  Father  as  the  perpetual  fountain  of  Life  ; 
the  Word  as  the  perpetual  going  forth  of  his  truth 
into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  intellio-ent  crea- 

O 

tures  ;  and  the  Spirit  as  the  universal  Communion 
of  all  spirits  with  each  other  and  with  the  Most 
High.  Look  at  it  as  an  attempt  to  express  the 
Christian  idea  of  Deity  as  all-embracing  Love,  and 
it  has  great  historic  value. 


122  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

In  speaking  of  Polytheism,  let  us  keep  in  mind 
this  important  historical  fact :  that  pure  Polythe- 
ism never  satisfies  the  mind,  and  that  consequently, 
in  most  Polytheistic  religions,  there  are  traces  of 
a  slightly-veiled  Monotheism.  The  tendency  to 
variety  is  always  accompanied  by  a  tendency  to 
Unity.  Among  primitive  nations  it  may  be  a  very 
imperfect  and  unstable  Monotheism,  but  it  occa- 
sionally shows  itself.  Brinton  tells  us  that,  not 
only  among  the  civilized  Aztecs,  but  even  among 
the  inhabitants  of  Hayti,  the  Lenni  Lenape,  and 
other  American  tribes,  we  find  such  names  affixed 
to  their  deities  as  "  Endless,"  "  Omnipotent,"  "  In- 
visible," ''Maker  and  Moulder  of  all  things," 
"  Mother  and  Father  of  Life,"  "  The  one  God  com- 
plete in  Perfection  and  Unity,"  "  The  Creator  of 
all  that  is,"  and  "  The  Soul  of  the  World."  He 
adds,  that  in  America,  among  the  Peruvians  and 
Mexicans,  there  were  two  deliberate  attempts  to 
introduce  a  Monotheistic  worship.  It  is  related 
that  about  Anno  Domini  1440,  at  a  great  religious 
council  held  in  Peru,  an  Inca  rose  before  the  as- 
sembled multitude  and  said  :  — 

"  Many  tell  us  that  the  Sun  made  all  things.  But  he 
who  makes  must  remain  with  what  he  makes  ;  now  many 
things  happen  when  the  Sun  is  absent,  therefore  he  can- 
not make  all  things.  It  is  doubtful  if  he  is  alive,  since  he 
never  seems  tired.  If  he  were  living  he  would  grow 
weary,  as  we  do ;  were  he  free  he  would  sometimes  go 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.        123 

elsewhere.  He  is  like  an  animal  in  harness,  who  has  to 
go  where  he  is  driven,  like  an  arrow  which  must  go  where 
it  is  sent  b}^  the  archer.  Therefore  he,  our  Father  and 
Master,  the  Sun,  must  have  another  Master  greater  than 
himself,  who  compels  him  to  go  his  daily  round  without 
peace  or  rest." 

A  name  was,  therefore,  invented  for  this  Su- 
preme Power,  and  a  temple  built  for  his  worship 
near  Callao,  in  which  were  no  images  nor  sacrifices. 

In  like  manner,  led  by  the  same  profound  relig- 
ious instinct,  the  King  of  Tescuco,  in  Mexico,  be- 
came tired  of  the  idols  of  his  kingdom,  havinsr 
prayed  to  them  in  vain  for  a  son.  "  What  are 
they,"  he  cried,  ''  but  dumb  stones,  without  sense 
or  power !  They  could  not  have  made  this  beau- 
tiful world  ;  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  ;  the  waters 
and  trees ;  and  all  the  countless  creatures  which 
inhabit  the  world.  There  must  be  some  invisible 
and  unknown  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things.  He 
alone  can  console  me  in  my  sorrow,  and  take  away 
my  affliction."  Therefore  he  erected  a  Temple 
nine  stories  high,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Un- 
known God,  the  Cause  of  Causes.  He  seems  to 
have  repeated,  without  knowing  it,  the  argument 
of  Paul  at  Athens. 

These,  however,  were  in  neither  case  attempts 
to  overthrow  Polytheism,  or  to  substitute  a  Mono- 
theism in  its  place,  but  only  to  add  the  worship  of 
a  supreme  God  to  that  of  the  inferior  deities.    Yet 


124  TEN    GKEAT    RELIGIONS. 

these  facts  show  that  tendency  in  the  soul  to  Mon- 
otheism which  appears,  more  or  less  distinctly,  in 
the  Polytheisms  of  mankind. 

And  what  is  the  truth  in  Pantheism  ? 

§  6.   The  Truth  in  Pantheism. 

Accordino;  to  Judaism  and  Mohammedanism 
there  is  little  of  the  Divine  in  Nature.  God  is  re- 
garded as  above  all ;  as  Creator,  Ruler,  Sovereign, 
Providence,  and  Judge.  He  is  the  moral  ruler  of 
the  universe.  The  works  of  the  Lord  are  marvel- 
lous, in  wisdom  has  he  made  them  all,  but  they  are 
marvellous  only  as  indicating  the  Divine  Wisdom 
which  formed  them.  So  a  watch  or  a  ship  are 
wonderful  works  of  human  intelligence,  but  we  do 
not  regard  them  as  possessing  any  human  quality. 
Nature  possessed  no  divine  quality  to  the  Hebrew 
mind.  But  the  New  Testament  teaches  that  God 
is  not  onl}^  above  all,  as  Creator,  Ruler,  Providence, 
and  Judge,  but  that  He  is  through  all  and  in  all, 
by  perpetually  imparting  beauty  and  life.  He 
flows  into  Nature  as  the  perpetual  Creator.  This 
produces  the  romantic  view  of  Nature,  unknown 
to  antiquit}^,  and  only  gradually  developed  in  very 
recent  times,  the  view  of  which  Wordsworth  is  the 
chief  Prophet.  Wordsworth  is  the  religious  Poet 
of  our  century,  and  his  peculiar  power  consists  in 
his  profound  feeling  of  something  divine  in  Nature. 
He  saw  in  Nature,  — 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.        125 

"  The  still,  sad  music  of  Humanity." 

He  felt  in  it,  — 

"  A  sense  sublime 

Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
Whose  dwellinji  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean,  and  the  living  air, 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man. 
A  motion  and  a  spirit,  that  impels 
All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought. 
And  rolls  through  all  things." 

It  is  this  sense  of  something  deeper  in  Nature 
than  what  we  see,  a  plastic  life  pervading  all  things, 
a  soul  of  the  world,  a  perpetual  presence  of  God, 
as  infinite  Order,  Beauty,  Life  ;  it  is  this  which 
makes  the  charm  of  the  best  of  Wordsworth's  po- 
ems, the  "  Tintern  Abbey,"  the  "  Peele  Castle," 
and  especially  "  The  Ode  to  Immortality."  This 
sense  of  a  Divine  Presence  in  sky  and  earth  gives 
to  them  a 

"  Lustre  known  to  neither  sea  nor  land," 

and  gives  to  "  the  meanest  flower  that  blows,'* 

"  Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears." 

This  romantic  view  of  Nature,  as  it  has  been 
called,  in  opposition  to  the  classic  view,  is  that 
which  sees  a  Divine  life  in  all  things.  The  Greeks 
saw  separate  divinities  in  each  part.  But  the  mod- 
ern spirit  sees  one  life  pervading  all  things,  and 
that  the  life  of  God  himself. 

When  Jesus  said  that  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the 


126  TEN    GEEAT   RELIGIONS. 

ground  without  our  Father ;  when  he  showed  with 
what  glory  God  had  dressed  each  common  weed 
on  the  plains  of  Sharon,  he  gave  the  idea  of  this 
new  faith.  Paul,  in  several  passages,  boldly  ap- 
proaches the  very  edge  of  Pantheism,  but  avoids 
its  dangers,  as  the  comet  of  1680  shot  down  close 
to  the  sun,  but  did  not  fall  into  it. 

When  Paul  declares  that  God  is  "  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  us  all ; "  when  he  speaks  of  the 
"  fullness  of  Him  who  filleth  all  in  all ;  "  when  he 
says  that  in  God  "  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
Being,"  and  that  "  from  Him,  through  Him,  and  to 
Him  are  all  things,"  he  avoids  the  false  Pantheism, 
but  teaches  the  true  Pantheism.  The  false  doc- 
trine declares  that  everything  is  God.  The  true 
doctrine  says  that  God  is  in  everything. 

§  7.   The  Imperfect  Monotheism  of  the  Buddhists. 

A  peculiar  form  of  Monotheism,  often  improp- 
erly called  Atheism,  is  found  in  the  religion  of 
Buddha.  It  is  certainly  improper  to  name  a  sys- 
tem Atheistic  which  recognizes  one  supreme  be- 
ing, lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  above  the  gods 
and  men.  M.  Barthelemy  St.  Hilaire  asserts  that 
"  there  is  no  trace  of  the  idea  of  God  in  the  whole 
of  Buddhism,  either  at  the  beginning  or  the  end." 
To  this  statement  Arthur  Lillie  ("  Buddha  and 
Early  Buddhism  ")  thus  replies  :  — 

"  If  M.  St.  Hilaire  were  to  visit  any  of  the  Buddhist 
temples  of  Tibet,  he  would  hear  the  Llamas  chant :  — 


THE    IDEA    OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  127 

'■'■'  I  adore  Ta-tha-gata  Amit-hatha,''  as  the  Buddlia  of 
Buddbas,  the  God  of  Gods.' 

"  If  he  should  visit  a  Chinese  temple  he  would  there 
hear  the  Liturgy,  which  says :  '  One  in  spirit,  we  invoke 
thee.  Hail  Amit-ahha  of  the  world.'  '  O  would  that 
our  merciful  teacher  Sakya-muni,  and  our  great  Father 
Amit-abha,  would  now  descend  and  be  present  with  us. 
Would  that  the  perfect  compassionate  heart  would  now 
draw  near  and  receive  our  offerings.  May  the  omnipo- 
tent and  omniscient  Holy  Spirit  come  to  us  while  we  re- 
cite these  divine  sentences.' 

"  If  he  goes  to  Nepaul,  he  would  learn  that  an  intelli- 
gent Buddhist  there  opposed  to  Mr.  Hodgson's  charge  of 
Atheism,  many  quotations  from  their  Scriptures,  from  an- 
cient Sanskrit  works,  of  which  the  following  are  speci- 
mens :  — 

'•'•  Adi- Buddlia  is  without  beginning.  He  is  perfect 
and  pure,  the  essence  of  wisdom  and  truth.  He  has  no 
second.  He  is  omnipresent.  He  rejoices  in  giving  joy 
to  all  sentient  beings.  He  tenderly  loves  those  who  serve 
him.  He  heals  pain  and  grief.  He  has  created  all  the 
Buddhas.  Himself  not  made,  he  has  made  all  things. 
He  is  the  essence  of  essences,  the  Infinite,  the  form  of 
all  things  yet  formless." 

It  is,  however,  contended  that  this  doctrine  of 
Adi-Buddlia  is  a  belief  which  bes-an  in  the  tenth 
century,  and  does  not  belong  to  primitive  Bud- 
dhism. Even  if  this  is  so,  we  may  say  that  a 
large  j)art  of  Buddhism  now  in  the  world  teaches 
Monotheism,  and,  secondly,  that  this  Monotheism 
must  be  regarded  as  not  inconsistent  with  original 


128  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Buddhism,  since  it  was  developed  out  of  it.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  Buddha  himself,  the  finite 
Buddha,  is  generally  worshipped  as  the  Supreme 
Being,  and  was  so  from  the  beginning,  as  the 
shrines  in  the  Rock-cut  Temples  testify.  This  is 
also  the  doctrine  of  Southern  Buddhism.  "  I  take 
refuge  in  Buddha,"  is  the  usual  prayer.  The  wor- 
shipjDer  asks  Buddha  to  forgive  his  sins.  A  Bud- 
dhist priest  in  Ceylon,  being  asked  by  one  of  the 
Dutch  governors  of  the  island  if  he  believed  in  a 
Supreme  Being,  replied,  ''Although  there  are  many 
Gods,  there  is  one  Supreme  above  all  others." 

Spence  Hardy,  the  best  authority  on  the  Bud- 
dhism of  Ceylon,  gives  us  this  statement  of  the 
belief  of  Sinhalese  Buddhists  concerning  their  Mas- 
ter:  — 

"  Buddha  is  the  joy  of  the  whole  world  ;  the  helper  of 
the  helpless  ;  a  mine  of  mercy  ;  the  Brahma  of  Bralimas  ; 
the  only  deliverer ;  teacher  of  the  three  worlds  ;  Father 
and  helper  of  the  world ;  universal  friend  ;  nearest  rela- 
tive ;  stronger  than  the  strongest ;  more  merciful  than 
the  most  merciful ;  more  beautiful-  than  the  most  beauti- 
ful. The  eye  cannot  see,  the  ear  hear,  or  the  mind  im- 
agine anything  more  beautiful  than  Buddha.  He  who 
trusts  in  Buddha  relies  on  him  who  is  supreme." 

§  8.   The  conception  of  God  essential,  the  name  unessen- 
tial. 

Now,  if  one  worships  a  being  as  supreme,  lord 
of  all  worlds,  most  merciful,  most  wise,  most  pow- 


THE  IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.    129 

erfiil,  is  he  not  worshipping  the  true  God  ?  Does 
it  matter  what  name  he  gives  him  —  Jehovah, 
Jove,  Brahma,  or  Buddha  ?  Does  any  name  fitly 
describe  the  infinite  being  ?  The  Jews  had  a  mys- 
terious name  for  Jehovah,  but  Jesus  dropped  that 
name,  and  called  God  Father,  showing  that  it  is 
the  character  of  God  and  the  idea  which  we  have 
of  Him  which  is  essential.  When  we  worship  the 
hischest  beino;  of  whom  we  can  form  an  idea,  we 
are  doino;  our  best  to  adore  the  true  God. 

Retracing  our  steps,  and  reviewing  the  progress 
made,  we  see  the  Idea  of  God  developed  gradually 
from  the  lowest  form  to  the  highest.  I  do  not  re- 
fer to  the  historic  development,  but  rather  to  the 
logical  one.  We  are  not  yet  able  to  say  whether 
the  whole  human  race  began  its  upward  career  with 
Animism,  as  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution  teaches,  or 
whether  some  purer  Monotheistic  view  may  not 
have  existed  from  the  beginning,  from  which  there 
has  been  a  subsequent  relapse.  Herbert  Spencer 
grants  the  probability  of  such  relapses,  and  con- 
siders the  religion  of  many  savage  tribes  as  a  de- 
graded reliocion.  We  have  seen  the  Monotheism 
of  the  Vedas  degraded  into  the  coarse  idolatry  of 
later  epochs.  But  the  logical  process  in  the  devel- 
opment of  religion  is  an  ascent  from  Animism, 
through  Nature-worship  to  some  form  of  Monar- 
chic Theism,  on  to  the  Absolute  Monotheism  of 
Moses,  and  from  that  still  upwards  to  the  reconcil- 
ing, all-embracing  fullness  of  Christian  Theism. 


130  TEN   GREAT   EELIGIONS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

IDEA   OF   GOD   IN  ALL   RELIGIONS.  —  DITHEISM,  TRI- 
THEISM,   AND    MONOTHEISM. 


§  1.  Ditheism  iu  all  Religions.  §  2.  The  Triads  in  all  Relig- 
ions. §  3.  Monotheism  in  all  Religions.  §  4.  Origin  of  our 
Belief  in  Spirit,  in  a  First  Cause,  in  an  Intelligent  Creator, 
in  a  Supreme  and  Infinite  Being.  §  5.  The  Christian  Idea  of 
God  is  a  combination  of  all  the  other  conceptions  of  Deity, 
with  that  of  Infinite  Love. 

§  1.  Ditheism  in  all  Religions. 

CONTINUING  our  examination  into  the  nature 
and  origin  of  the  Idea  of  God  in  all  ReUgions, 
we  now  come  to  the  three  forms :  Ditheism,  Tri- 
theism,  and  Monotheism. 

We  have  seen  that  all  the  races  of  men,  from 
the  lowest  in  civilization  to  the  highest,  have  be- 
lieved in  a  supernatural  world  of  spirits,  which 
faith  has  been  called  Animism.  We  have  also 
seen  that  a  large  portion  of  the  human  race  have 
believed  in  numerous  divine  beings,  spirits  of  a 
higher  order,  creators  or  rulers  of  this  world,  a 
doctrine  which  we  call  Polytheism.  Another  large 
division  of  mankind  have  believed  in  the  Supreme 
Being,  or  in  Monotheism. 


IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.      131 

We  have  seen  that  aU  nature  reUgions  tend  to- 
ward Polytheism  on  one  side,  or  to  Pantheism  on 
the  other ;  either  to  a  behef  of  many  spiritual  be- 
ings outside  of  nature,  or  of  one  spirit  immersed  in 
nature. 

We  have  also  observed  that  the  prophetic  relig- 
ions take  a  different  course,  —  all  tending  toward 
pure  Monotheism.  The  prophets,  founders  of 
these  religions,  are  Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Confucius, 
Moses,  Mohammed,  and  Jesus. 

But  besides  this,  there  are  traces,  here  and 
there,  of  a  belief  in  two  divine  beings,  one  good 
and  the  other  evil,  which  belief  may  be  named 
Dualism,  or,  better.  Ditheism.  The  last  is  the  bet- 
ter term,  because  more  specific.  Dualism  is  a  word 
of  a  larger  meaning,  including  the  reception  of  a 
two-fold  principle  in  Philosophy,  Science,  Morals. 
But  Ditheism  only  signifies  the  belief  in  two  Divine 
Beings. 

The  religion  of  Zoroaster  is  usually  considered 
to  be  a  Ditheism,  or  belief  in  two  hostile  powers 
of  equal  authority ;  one  good,  the  other  evil ;  en- 
gaged in  constant  war.  No  doubt  the  actual  con- 
flict of  good  and  evil  which  we  see  around  us  is 
more  fully  emphasized  in  this  religion  than  in  any 
other.  The  dual  principle,  however,  is  found  in 
all  religions.  The  Ormazd  and  Ahriman  of  the 
Zend-Avesta  appear  in  Hinduism  as  Brahma  and 
Rudra,  the  creator  and   destroyer  j    in  Egypt,  as 


132  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Osiris  and  Typhon ;  in  the  Scandinavian  religion, 
as  Odin  and  Loke ;  in  Judaism,  as  Jehovah  and 
Satan.  Whether  this  duaUsm  of  good  and  evil  be- 
longed to  the  original  form  of  these  systems  of 
faith  I  do  not  stop  to  ask.  Enough  to  say  that 
in  all  religions  there  is  a  stage  of  development  in 
which  the  heart  is  oppressed,  and  the  mind  con- 
fused, by  the  sight  of  the  suffering  and  sin  in  the 
world.  In  the  childlike  religions  every  evil  is  as- 
cribed to  the  baleful  influence  of  some  particular 
spirit.  In  others  it  seems  to  denote  a  struggle  for 
supremacy  between  two  great  contending  powers, 
one  benign,  the  other  malevolent.  The  system 
taught  by  Zoroaster  was  arrested  in  this  second 
stage.  It  beheld  a  great  warfare  forever  going  on 
in  nature  and  life  ;  Ormazd  and  the  good  angels 
fighting  against  Ahriman  and  the  evil  angels.  It 
became  the  duty  of  every  man  to  fight  for  good 
against  evil.  Every  good  action  was  a  blow  struck 
on  the  side  of  Ormazd ;  every  bad  one  was  de- 
livered in  behalf  of  Ahriman.  The  same  duty  of 
contending  for  truth  against  falsehood,  for  right 
against  wrong,  is  found  in  all  other  systems  which 
have  a  moral  character. 

Whenever  we  fix  our  attention  mainly  on  the 
eternal  distinction  between  Ricrht  and  Wrontr,  Good 
and  Evil,  we  are  leaning  toward  Ditheism.  Evil 
seems  to  us  a  mighty  power  in  the  Universe  ar- 
rayed against  good.      In  our  philosophical  mood 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IX    ALL    RELIGIONS.  133 

we  may  say  that  all  partial  evil  is  universal  good ; 
that  man  can  only  learn  to  walk  by  stumbling  and 
falling ;  and  that  evil  is  only  a  shadow  of  which 
good  is  the  substance.  We  may  go  so  far  as  to 
say  that  evil  is  only  a  stage  in  the  development  of 
good  ;  and  so  make  all  evil,  and  even  all  sin,  purely 
negative.  And  in  our  highest  religious  mood,  we 
may  be  satisfied  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  those  that  love  God ;  tRat  where  sin 
abomids,  grace  doth  yet  more  abound  ;  and  thus, 
that  sin  itself,  by  the  alchemy  of  divine  love,  can 
be  transmuted  into  the  sweetest  gratitude  ;  accord- 
ing to  the  text,  that  he  who  is  forgiven  much,  loves 
much.  But  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  of  mortal 
conflict,  or  when  we  are  forced  to  look  on  the  act- 
ual misery  and  wrong  there  is  in  the  world,  we 
■find  evil  an  awful  reality.  Then  "  the  air  around 
us  seems  thick  with  universal  pain."  No  moral 
reform  could  be  carried  on ;  no  martyr  could  die 
for  the  truth  ;  no  missionary  spend  his  days  among 
savages;  no  philanthropist  struggle  to  overcome 
fashionable  sins,  unless  evil,  for  the  time,  at  least, 
should  seem  no  negation,  but  the  eternal  enemy 
of  goodness  and  joy.  Even  in  Christianity  this 
conflict  of  Right  with  Wrong  has  taken  the  form 
of  an  eternal  Hell  of  sin  and  misery  by  the  side  of 
the  eternal  Heaven.  To  the  Christian  imagnia- 
tion  Satan  and  his  devils  have  been  as  positive 
presences  as  God  and  his  angels.     The  optimistic 


134  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

view  which  led  Paul  to  foresee  a  time  when  the 
last  enemy  would  be  overcome  by  the  power  of 
Christ,  and  made  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Reve- 
lation predict  the  day  when  death  and  hell  would 
both  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  has  retired  into 
the  back-ground  of  the  Christian  consciousness. 
The  general  belief  of  Christendom  has  been,  that 
a  part  of  the  universe  would  be  always  in  a  state 
of  permanent  rebellion  against  the  Almighty. 

It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  religious  development 
that  the  system  of  Zoroaster  was  crystallized  into  a 
permanent  form.  It  was  an  essentially  moral  re- 
ligion. Its  prayer,  like  that  of  the  Christian,  is 
that  God's  Kingdom  may  come  and  his  will  be 
done  on  the  earth.  Its  expectation,  like  the  Chris- 
tian hope,  is  that  the  time  will  come,  in  which 
Ahriman  with  all  his  host  of  evil  spirits  will  be 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  and  be  either  destroyed, 
or  be  purified  and  redeemed.  And  the  disciple  of 
Zoroaster,  like  the  disciple  of  Jesus,  believes  that 
life  is  a  warfare,  and  that  to  fight  the  good  fight 
of  faith,  one  must  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God. 
Like  the  Christian,  he  wrestles  not  with  flesh  and 
blood,  but  with  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  with 
spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places. 

Thus,  there  is  a  dualistic  tendency  in  all  relig- 
ions, and,  also,  in  many  systems  of  philosophy. 
Anaxagoras  distinguished  God  from  Nature,  mak- 
ing Nature  the  dark  unintelligent  material,  out  of 


IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.      135 

which  God  makes  beauty  and  order.  Pythagoras 
and  Plato  equally  regarded  all  intelligent  spirits  as 
free  and  good ;  all  unintelligent  matter  as  bound 
by  necessity,  and  forever  resisting  the  power  of 
the  divine  soul  of  things. 

In  modern  times  many  philosophers  have  sought 
to  solve  the  problem  of  evil  in  the  same  way.  John 
Stuart  Mill  is  one  of  the  last  who  takes  the  same 
view,  regarding  God  as  willing,  but  not  able,  to 
overcome  the  power  of  necessity  in  the  universe 
of  matter,  and  therefore  unable  to  prevent  the 
existence  of  evil  in  the  universe. 

§  2.  The  Triads  in  all  Religions. 

Another  fact  is  the  appearance  of  divine  triads 
in  so  many  religious  systems. 

The  theory  of  the  Hindu  theologians,  says  Cole- 
brook,  is  this :  "  There  is  one  supreme  unrevealed 
being  —  Para-Brahm.  By  seK-contemplation  he 
produced  the  universe.  Then,  as  Siva,  or  Maha- 
deva,  he  destroyed  it;  then,  as  Vishnu,  he  re- 
stored and  sustains  it.  This  is  the  Hindu  Trinity 
—  the  Trimurti.  Its  holy  inexpressible  name  is 
the  sacred  triliteral  word  A  U  M."  "  This  doc- 
trine," say  the  Hindus,  "  is  so  mysterious,  that 
neither  man  nor  ang;el  can  understand  it." 

There  is  a  triad  in  one  of  the  ancient  Chinese 
religions.  The  Tau-te-King  thus  speaks  :  "  You 
look  for  the  Tao  and  you  see  it  not.    Its  name  is  I. 


136  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

You  listen  for  it,  and  do  not  hear  it ;  its  name  is  Hi. 
You  touch  it,  and  do  not  feel  it ;  its  name  is  Wei. 
These  three  are  inscrutable  and  inexpressible.  We 
combine  them  into  oneness,  which  has  no  body,  a 
form  without  form,  an  image  without  image." 

Another  passage  says :  "  These  inscrutable  three 
are  but  one."  "The  Tao  produced  one,  one  pro- 
duced two ;  the  two  produced  three,  the  three 
produced  all  beings." 

A  series  of  triad  deities  were  also  worshipped  in 
Assyria,  and  another  in  Babylon.  In  Assyria  the 
highest  triad  was:  (1.)  Oannes,  Chaos;  (2.)  Bel, 
He  who  gives  form  to  Chaos ;  (3.)  A  0  or  Bin,  the 
Son,  representing  the  world  as  formed. 

Another  triad  represented  the  sun,  moon,  and 
firmament. 

The  object  of  worship  in  Buddhism  is  also  a  triad, 
consisting  of:  (1.)  Buddha,  the  Supreme  Being; 
(2.)  Dharma,  the  law;  and  (3.)  Sangha,  the  asso- 
ciated priesthood. 

In  Egypt  the  gods  were  all  grouped  in  triads, 
and  a  separate  triad  was  worshipped  in  each  city : 
at  Thebes,  Amun,  Maut,  and  Khons ;  at  Memphis, 
Ptah,  Pasht,  and  their  son ;  elsewhere  Osiris,  Isis, 
Horus. 

In  Greece,  as  Creuzer  believes,  there  was  the 
notion  of  a  cosmic  triad  before  the  time  when 
Plomer  first  humanized  the  preexisting  Polythe- 
ism.    This  triad,  he  says,  consisted  of  the  heavens 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  137 

above,  the  earth  beneath,  and  the  ocean  around 
all  tlimo;s. 

In  the  Orphic  theology  there  was  also  a  three- 
formed  god,  called  light,  life,  and  counsel.  Some 
of  the  Orphic  sayings  which  have  been  preserved 
are  these :  "  God  is  the  head  and  middle  of  all 
things.  God  is  the  abyss  of  heaven,  the  depth  of 
the  sea,  and  the  life  of  all  breathing  creatures. 
All  these  three,  abyss,  depth,  and  life,  are  parts  of 
his  vast  body." 

According  to  Plato,  God  is  threefold :  first  as 
the  profound,  inscrutable  substance  and  cause  of 
all  things ;  next  as  manifesting  himself  in  the 
ideas,  which  are  the  roots  in  the  spiritual  world  of 
all  that  exists  in  the  natural  world  ;  and  thirdly  as 
the  life  of  the  universe. 

This  threefold  division  was  carried  out  still  more 
fully  by  the  later  Platonists,  who  have  a  series  of 
trinities,  first  of  beauty,  truth,  and  symmetry, 
which  is  the  triad  of  intelligible  being ;  next  the 
vital  triad,  of  the  source  of  life,  the  power  of  life, 
and  the  existence  of  life. 

Not  only  Plato,  but  other  Greek  philosophers  be- 
fore him,  as  Parmenides  and  Pythagoras,  conceived 
of  the  supreme  being  as  a  triad  in  a  monad.  The 
triad  of  Pythagoras  much  resembled  the  Platonic 
trinity.  The  first  One  was  above  all  being ;  the 
second  One  contained  the  ideas  of  all  being ;  the 
third  One  was  the  soul  of  all  being.     According  to 


138  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Parmeiiides,  the  highest  divine  being  is  perfectly 
and  properly  one  ;  the  second  is  the  one-many,  or 
each  and  all ;  the  third  is  the  return  of  the  many 
to  the  one. 

We  find,  also,  that  the  system  of  Zoroaster,  so 
long  arrested  in  dualism,  finally  assumed  a  triad 
form  by  the  addition  to  Ormazd  the  good  principle, 
and  Ahriman  the  evil,  of  a  third,  Mitra  or  Mithra, 
the  mediator  or  reconciler. 

And  even  the  Jewish  mind,  when  it  began  to 
philosophize  in  Alexandria,  took  up  this  conception 
of  the  Deity  as  an  imperfect  triad.  This  was  es- 
pecially the  work  of  Philo,  who  was  a  contempo- 
rary with  Christ.  He  regards  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, the  cause  of  all  things,  as  creating  the  world 
by  his  logos  or  divine  mind,  which  Philo  also  called 
the  First-Begotten  Son  of  God.  So  that  he  con- 
ceived of  God  in  a  threefold  character :  as  essential 
being,  as  the  divine  ideas  which  were  the  arche- 
types before  all  things,  and  as  the  creative  logos, 
or  life  which  produces  all  things. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  was  derived  from  such  forms  of 
thought  previously  existing  in  Egypt  and  else- 
where. It  grew  out  of  a  philosophical  attempt  to 
unite  the  monotheism  of  the  Jews  with  the  pro- 
found tendencies  of  the  Oriental  and  Grecian  mind. 
Philo  had  led  the  way  in  this  attempt ;  and  Alex- 
andria, where  he  lived  and  taught,  was  also  the 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  139 

place  where  the  Christian  Trinity  took  its  origin. 
The  early  Christian  thinkers  who  followed  Christ 
in  their  faith,  took  Plato  as  their  master  in  philos- 
ophy. Their  object  was  to  see  the  Divine  in  the 
unity  of  things,  and  also  in  their  variety.  The 
Supreme  Being,  One  in  Himself,  is  nevertheless 
the  source  and  author  of  the  infinitely  varied 
world. 

The  Gnostics  also  held  to  a  Triad.  In  some  of 
the  Gnostic  systems,  this  Trinity  consists  of  the 
Spirit  in  itself,  the  self-conscious  Spirit,  and  the  in- 
telligent Reason.^  The  Gnostics  were  much  occu- 
pied with  this  problem  of  Creation.  Can  a  finite 
and  imperfect  world  proceed  from  an  infinite  and 
perfect  God  ?  Some  of  them  assumed  three  first 
principles  of  things :  the  Good  God,  the  Just  God, 
and  the  world  of  matter.^  Others  laid  stress  on  the 
distinction  between  the  Abyss  of  Being,  which  is 
the  Supreme  but  unknown  God  ;  the  ^ons,  which 
emanate  from  him ;  and  the  Demiurg,  or  Creator 
of  the  world.  « 

But  even  these  conceptions  of  the  Deity  as  a 
triad,  are  all  evidences  of  the  tendency  in  the  soul 
to  faith  in  one  Supreme  and  Perfect  Deity.  They 
are  forms  of  Monotheism.  Everything  which  we 
see  is  finite,  yet  we  believe  in  an  infinite  being. 

^  Ferd.  Christ.  Baur.     Die  Christliche  Lehre  von  der  Dreieinigkeit, 
vol.  i.,  page  140. 

^  Hase,  Kirchengeschichte. 


140  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIOXS. 

Everything  we  see  around  has  more  or  less  of  im- 
perfection or  evil,  j^et  we  must  believe  in  an  all- 
perfect  One,  to  whom  no  shade  of  evil  can  attach 
itself.  These  triads  are  attempts  to  reconcile  such 
apparent  contradictions.  They  consider  God  as 
all-perfect  in  himself  ;  but  therefore  as  not  in  im- 
mediate contact  with  the  imperfect  world.  An- 
other being,  divine  indeed,  but  of  subordinate  di- 
vinity, is  the  Demiurg,  a  creator  of  all  things. 
The  third  manifestation  of  God  is  in  order  to  recall 
the  world,  thus  fallen  away  out  of  himself,  back 
into  himself.  Such  were  the  speculative  attempts 
of  antiquit}^,  seeking  to  reconcile  Unity  and  Vari- 
ety, Monotheism  and  Polytheism,  an  All-perfect 
Deity  and  this  imperfect  world  which  went  forth 
from  his  mind  and  hand. 

Tri theism,  being  so  universal,  must  have  its 
source  in  some  necessity  of  the  human  mind.  This 
is  the  attempt,  ever  foiled,  to  understand  the  in- 
comprehensible nature  of  God.  All  Trinities  are 
philosophical  speculations.  They  belong  to  the 
metaphysics  of  religion,  rather  than  to  religion  it- 
self. The  first  conception  of  the  Deity  was  of  a 
simple,  personal  being  like  ourselves,  above  all 
things  ;  and  so,  like  ourselves,  outside  of  the  uni- 
versal order,  as  its  Maker  and  Ruler  ;  this  was  sim- 
ple Monotheism.  Then  came  the  sense  of  the  Dis- 
cord, the  imperfection  which  disturbs  this  order, 
the  Evil  which  resists  this  goodness,  and  so  arrived 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    IlELTGIOXS.  141 

Ditheism ;  and  finally  men  felt  the  need  of  a  third 
Being,  or  Principle,  which  should  mediate  between 
the  two  antagonist  powers,  and  reconcile  them  in 
a  higher  unity.  Thus  the  Triads  were  to  satisfy 
the  reflecting  intellect.  But  all  such  attempts 
prove  unsatisfactory.  At  last  the  religious  nature 
is  contented  with  the  conception  of  the  One  God, 
above  all,  through  all,  and  in  us  all. 

§  3.  3Ionotheism  in  all  Religions. 

Monotheism  exists  as  thought  and  as  life ;  as 
philosophy  and  as  religion.  The  human  race  has 
reached,  by  two  distinct  and  different  paths,  this 
high  ground  where  it  stands  in  the  presence  of 
one,  supreme,  all-perfect  being.  It  has  arrived  at 
Monotheism  by  the  method  of  speculative  inquiry, 
and  the  development  of  its  religious  life  through 
conscious  intelligent  reasoning,  and  an  unconscious 
unfolding  of  the,  spiritual  nature.  It  will  be  inter- 
esting to  look  for  a  moment  at  these  two  methods, 
both  of  which  reach  at  last  the  same  result.  By 
the  mouth  of  two  witnesses  everything  is  more 
firmly  established. 

Philosophic  theism  is  the  belief  in  a  perfect  be- 
ing ;  seH-existent,  in  whom  all  things  exist ;  the 
intelligent  cause  of  all  things ;  above  all  nature  as 
its  cause,  yet  not  outside  of  it ;  within  all  nature 
as  its  order  and  life,  yet  not  shut  in  by  it;  beneath 
all  nature  as  its  substance,  yet  not  immersed  in  it ; 


142  TEN    GREAT    RELIGION'S. 

around  all  nature  as  its  providence,  yet  not  separ- 
ated from  it.  He  is  supreme,  infinite,  eternal ;  he 
is  absolute,  that  is,  depending  only  on  himself,  yet 
by  his  infinite  goodness  is  in  a  perpetual  relation 
of  providential  care  to  all  his  creatures.  He  is  infi- 
nite in  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  and  thus  for- 
ever one.  Forever  one,  he  is  never  alone,  because 
bound  by  his  infinite  love  and  perfect  wisdom  to 
his  creation.  The  best  definition  of  Deity  is  this : 
God  is  the  perfect  Being. 

Now  this  idea  of  God  has  been  held,  in  a  more 
or  less  distinct  form,  by  the  greatest  thinkers  in 
all  time.  Thus  the  Ny-a-ya  philosophy  in  India 
speaks  of  the  Supreme  Soul  as  infinite,  eternal, 
immutable,  omniscient,  without  form,  all-pervad- 
ing, all-powerful,  one  only.  A  writer  of  this  school 
says :  "  An  omniscient  and  indestructible  being  is 
to  be  proved  from  the  existence  of  effects  (which 
require  a  cause),  from  the  combination  of  atoms 
(which  imply  design),  from  the  sustained  order  of 
the  universe  (which  implies  an  upholder),  from  the 
traditional  arts  among  men  (which  imply  an  inspi- 
ration from  above)." 

The  second  system  of  Hindu  philosophy  has 
been  called  Atheistic.  It  is  the  Sankya  philoso- 
phy. It  is  rather  Agnostic  than  Atheistic.  While 
it  asserts  the  eternal  existence  of  souls,  it  denies 
that  the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Soul  is  capable 
of  dialectic  proof.     One  branch  of  this  system  — 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  143 

the  Yoga  —  does,  however,  distmctly  acknowledge 
the  Supreme  Being,  and  declares  that  by  ascetic 
exercises  and  mortification  of  the  flesh  one  can 
come  into  union  with  God,  and  be  yoked  to  him. 

The  third  ancient  Hindu  system  of  philosophy, 
the  Vedanta,  declares  all  the  universe  to  be  identi- 
cal with  the  Supreme  Soul,  or  Brahma.  It  thus 
defines  him :  "  Brahma  is  the  all-knowing,  all- 
powerful  cause,  from  which  comes  the  production, 
continuance,  and  dissolution  of  the  universe.  The 
Supreme  Being  is  omniscient,  for  from  him  pro- 
ceeded the  Veda.  Every  soul  is  evolved  from  him 
and  returns  to  him.  He  consists  of  joy.  He,  the 
one  God,  is  light  within  the  sun,  and  within  the 
eye.  He  is  life,  and  the  breath  of  life.  He  is 
creator  and  creation,  actor  and  act.  He  has  nei- 
ther beginning  nor  end,  parts  or  qualities;  he  is 
immutable,  and  the  only  real  substance." 

This  doctrine  may  be  called  imperfect  Theism, 
because  leaning  too  much  to  Pantheism.  But  it 
is  also  imperfect  Pantheism,  because  it  makes  the 
Supreme  Being  omniscient,  intelligent,  and  full  of 

joy- 

Thus,  from  the  earliest  times,  philosophic  Theism 
has  existed  in  India,  often  leaning  either  toward 
spiritual  Pantheism,  or  to  material  Pantheism  ;  but 
still  maintaining  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Soul, 
the  soul  of  nature,  the  origin  of  all  things,  the 
principle  of  all  life. 


144  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

If  we  turn'  to  ancient  Greece  we  discover  in 
philosophy,  as  soon  as  it  emerges  there,  the  exist- 
ence of  philosophic  Theism. 

Pythagoras  considered  the  monad,  or  principle 
of  unity,  as  the  source  of  all  things.  Xenophanes 
(born  620  b.  c.)  first  distinctly  announced  the  doc- 
trine of  the  one  all-controlling  Godhead.  "  God," 
he  says,  "  is  all  eye,  ear,  intelligence,  —  he  moves 
and  directs  all  things  by  the  power  of  thought." 
Anaxagoras  (born  in  Asia  Minor  about  500  b.  c.) 
finds  the  force  which  shapes  the  world,  not  in  the 
nature  of  matter,  nor  in  impersonal  forces,  but  in 
a  world-ordering  mind.  This  Supreme  Mind  is 
distinguished  from  matter  by  simplicity,  indepen- 
dence, knowledge,  and  supreme  power.  According 
to  Socrates  (born  470  b.  c.)  the  world  is  governed 
by  a  Supreme  Divine  Intelligence,  who  inspires 
men  to  do  what  is  good.  He  discovered  in  all  the 
outward  world  marks  of  creative  design.  Plato 
(born  427  b.  c.)  makes  goodness  the  supreme  idea, 
and  the  essence  of  God.  He  did  not  say  "  God  is 
being,"  but  "  God  is  goodness,"  just  as  the  apostle 
says  "  God  is  love."  One  Supreme  Being  made 
the  world,  and  made  it  for  good.  The  highest  aim 
of  man  and  his  supreme  happiness  consists  in  his 
becoming  like  God.  So  devoted  was  Plato  to  the 
contemplation  of  Deity  that  he  has  been  called 
the  Divine  Plato,  the  Christian  Theologian  before 
Christ.     In  passages  quoted  by  Cud  worth,  Rixner, 


IDEA   OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  145 

and  Alfred  Day,  Plato  speaks  of  God  as  the  "  Ar- 
chitect of  the  World,"  the  "  Maker  and  Father  of 
the  Universe,"  "  Whom  it  is  hard  to  find  out  and 
impossible  to  declare,"  "  God  over  all,"  "  Creator 
of  Nature,"  "  Sole  Principle  of  the  Universe," 
"  Cause  of  all  things,"  "  Mind,  Supreme  King," 
"  The  Sovereign  Mind  which  orders  all  things,  and 
passes  through  all  things,"  "  Governor  of  the 
Whole,"  ''  Which  always  is  and  was  never  made," 
"  The  First  God,"  ''  The  Greatest  God,"  "  He  who 
makes  earth,  heaven,  and  the  gods,"  "  Producing 
all  things  and  self-existing,"  "  Always  good,  never 
evil,"  ''  Cause  of  all  blessings,"  "  Who  cannot 
change  for  the  better,  and  will  not  change  for  the 
worse,"  "  By  whose  Providence  the  state  is  pre- 
served." 

Rixner^  says  that  Plato  is  the  truly  divine  phi- 
losopher, because  he  refers  all  things  to  God  as 
the  ground  of  their  being. 

Aristotle,  who  in  his  way  of  thought  was  the 
very  opposite  to  Plato,  nevertheless  speaks  of  God 
with  a  similar  grandeur  in  the  Eleventh  Book  of 
his  "  Metaphysics  "  :  — 

"  The  principle  of  life  is  in  God  ;  for  energy  of  mind 
constitutes  life,  and  God  is  this  energy.  He,  the  first 
mover,  imparts  motion,  and  pursues  the  work  of  creation 
as  something  to  be  loved.  His  course  of  life  resembles 
ours,  but  his  exists  forever,  while  ours  is  transient.     His 

^  Handbuch  der  GescJiichte  der  Philosophie. 
10 


146  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

joy  is  in  the  exercise  of  his  essential  energy.  He  is  eter- 
nal and  perfect,  indivisible,  without  parts,  devoid  of  pas- 
sions, and  unchanging." 

This  path  of  belief  has  ever  since  been  pursued 
by  the  great  masters  of  philosophic  thought.  How- 
ever they  have  differed  on  other  questions,  they  all, 
with  one  consent,  agree  in  this  sublime  faith.  The 
new  Platonists,  Plotinus,  Proclus,  Jamblichus ;  the 
medieval  philosophers,  Erigena,  Anselm,  Abelard ; 
the  great  Arabian  philosophers,  Averroes,  Avi- 
cenna,  and  others ;  the  modern  thinkers,  Spinoza, 
Descartes,  Bacon,  Leibnitz,  Locke,  Kant,  Fichte, 
Schelling,  Hegel,  —  all  have  conceived  of  a  spirit- 
ual, All-perfect  Being,  as  the  one  ever  active  cause 
of  all  that  exists.  The  consent  of  thought  in  this 
belief  is  most  extraordinary.  Read  this  hymn  of 
Cleanthes,  the  Stoic,  who  lived  460  b.  c.  :  — 

"  O  thou  who  hast  various  names,  but  whose  essence 
is  one  and  infinite  !  O  Jupiter !  first  of  immortals,  sov- 
ereign of  nature,  who  governest  all,  who  subjectest  all  to 
one  law,  I  salute  thee ;  for  man  is  permitted  to  invoke 
thee.  All  that  lives,  all  that  moves,  all  that  exists  as 
mortal  upon  the  earth,  we  all  are  born  of  thee,  we  are  a 
feeble  image  of  thee.  I  address  to  thee,  therefore,  my 
hymn,  and  will  not  cease  to  sing  to  thee.  This  universe 
suspended  over  our  heads,  and  which  seems  to  roll  around 
the  earth,  obeys  thee  alone ;  it  moves  and  is  governed 
in  silence  by  thy  command.  Genius  of  nature !  in  the 
heavens,  on  the  earth,  in  the  seas,  nothing  is  made,  noth- 
ing is  produced  without  thee,  except  evil,  which  springs 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  147 

from  the  heart  of  the  wicked.  By  happy  accord  thou  so 
blendest  that  which  is  good  with  that  which  is  not,  that 
general  and  eternal  harmony  is  everywhere  established. 
Alone,  of  all  beings,  the  wicked  interrupt  this  grand  har- 
mony of  the  world." 

This  is  essentially  the  same  idea  of  Deity  as 
in  the  hymn  of  Hildebert :  — 

"Above  all  things,  below  all  things; 
Around  all  things,  within  all  things; 
Within  all,  but  not  shut  in; 
Around  all,  but  not  shut  out; 
Above  all,  as  the  Ruler; 
Below  all,  as  the  Sustainer; 
Around  all,  as  all-embracing  Protection; 
Within  all,  as  the  Fullness  of  Life." 

The  same  also  as  in  the  lines  of  Pope,  who 
writes  of  the  Deity  that  he 

"  Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent; 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent. 
To  him,  no  high,  no  low,  no  great  nor  small; 
He  fills,  he  bounds,  connects  and  equals  all." 

Or,  as  in  Dr.  Johnson's  hymn  :  — 

"  From  thee,  Great  God,  we  spring,  to  thee  we  tend; 
Path,  Motive,  Guide,  Original  and  End." 

Having  thus  seen  Monotheism  in  philosophy,  we 
now  come  to  consider  it  in  all  the  religions.  It  may 
surprise  us  to  learn  that  Monotheism  has  existed 
in  all  or  nearly  all  religions,  and  that  in  the  most 
highly  developed  Polytheism  there  still  remains, 
perhaps  in  an  obscure  form,  a  very  real  Monothe- 


148  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

ism.  This  may  not  mean  the  conception  of  one 
only  God,  but  rather  of  a  Supreme  Being,  a  Most 
High  God.  Sometimes  this  Supreme  Being  is  re- 
garded as  the  Creator  of  all  things,  sometimes  not. 
But  in  most  of  these  forms,  as  we  shall  see,  a  Mon- 
otheistic type  is  found. 

Beginning  with  the  childlike  races,  we  find  the 
Monotheistic  idea  among  some  of  those  who  are 
placed  by  ethnologists  on  the  lowest  23lane  of  hu- 
man development,  such  as  the  Hottentots  and 
Bushmen  of  South  Africa,  the  negroes  of  the  Gold 
Coast,  the  natives  of  Australia,  the  islanders  of  Pol- 
ynesia, the  inhabitants  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  the  In- 
dians of  the  Amazon  River,  the  North  American 
Indians,  the  Esquimaux,  and  the  natives  of  the 
Andaman  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  All  of 
these  have  been  pronounced  by  different  travelers 
and  writers  on  sociology  as  destitute  of  any  relig- 
ion whatever.  But  later  and  more  careful  inquiry 
has  shown  that  besides  the  belief  in  a  surrounding 
world  of  disembodied  spirits  (or  Animism),  com- 
mon to  all  races,  they  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being, 
as  is  testified  to  by  the  traveler  Kolben  and  by 
missionaries  who  have  lived  among;  them.  Of 
these  African  tribes  generally,  Waitz,  a  distin- 
guished anthropologist,  speaks  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  religion  of  the  negro  is  usually  considered  as  a 
peculiar  crude  form  of  Polytheism,  and  marked  with  the 
special  name  of  Fetichism.     A  closer  inspection  clearly 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  149 

shows  that  it  is  neither  very  peculiar  nor  exceptionally 
crude.  A  profounder  investigation,  such  as  has  recently 
been  made  with  success  by  several  eminent  scholars,  leads 
to  the  surprising  result  that  several  negro  tribes,  who 
have  not  been  influenced  from  the  outside,  have  devel- 
oped their  religious  ideas  so  far  that  if  we  do  not  call 
them  Monotheists,  we  must  admit  that  they  have  come 
very  near  the  boundaries  of  true  Monotheism."  ^ 

There  is  ample  evidence  to  show  (says  Max  Miil- 
ler)  that  the  tribes  of  West  Africa  believe  in  a  su- 
preme god,  a  good  being.  The  Ashantis  call  him 
by  the  same  name  as  the  sky,  but  mean  by  it  a 
personal  god,  who,  they  say,  created  all  things,  and 
gives  all  good  things.  They  believe  him  to  be 
omniscient  and  omnipresent.  The  negroes  of  the 
Gold  Coast,  says  the  missionary  Cruickshank,  be- 
lieve in  a  supreme  god,  creator  and  governor  of 
the  world,  calling  him  ''  Our  great  friend,"  or  "  He 
who  made  us."  Other  missionaries  confirm  this 
statement,  telling  us  that  these  negroes  say  "  God 
is  the  old  one,  he  is  the  greatest,  he  sees  me." 
Cruickshank  adds:  "  If,  besides  this  faith  they  also 
believe  in  thousands  of  fetiches,  they  unfortunately 
share  this  fault  with  many  Christians." 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  American  Philosoph- 
ical Society  there  is  an  article,  by  Dr.  Brinton,  on 
the  ancient  srods  of  Central  America.  He  tells  us 
that  he  finds  in  old  documents  prayers  to  the  Cre- 

1  Anlhropologie  der  Naturvolker, 


150  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

ator  of  the  World,  which  date  back  to  a  time  pre- 
ceding the  discovery  of  America.  Some  of  these 
he  thus  translates  out  of  the  Maya  tongue :  — 

"We  bring  forward  the  revelation  of  that  which  was 
hidden,  the  knowledge  sent  to  us  by  him  who  creates,  who 
forms  creatures.  Speak  his  name ;  honor  your  mother 
and  father ;  call  hun  Hurakan,  Soul  of  the  Earth,  Soul  of 
the  Sky,  Creator,  Maker,  her  who  makes  us,  him  who 
creates  us  ;  call  on  him  and  salute  him. 

"  Hail !  O  Creators  Maker !  thou  seest  and  hearest  us. 
Do  not  leave  us ;  do  not  desert  us !  O  Hurakan,  Voc,  Te- 
peu,  Alom;  Grandmother  of  the  Sun,  Grandmother  of 
the  Light ;  hear  us,  help  us." 

In  China,  five  thousand  years  ago,  as  on  the  west- 
ern coast  of  Africa,  the  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being 
was  associated  with  the  visible  heavens.  In  the 
languages  of  western  Africa,  and  eastern  Asia,  one 
word  designated  God,  and  also  the  visible  heavens. 
The  vast,  all-surrounding  sky,  filled  wdth  light  by 
day,  glittering  in  the  solemn  night  with  uncounted 
stars,  —  unfathomable,  unbounded,  that  is,  infin- 
ite, —  this  seemed  to  both  races  the  fittest  name 
for  God.  That  name  was  Ti,  the  personal  name 
of  heaven.  Shang-ti  means  the  Supreme  Heaven. 
Dr.  Legge,  best  authorized  to  speak  on  this  sub- 
ject, says :  "  These  characters  show  us  that  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Chinese,  five  thousand  years  ago,  was 
a  Monotheism;"^  and  he  adds,  that  "these  two 

1  The  Religion  of  China.     By  James  Legge,  1881. 


IDE/V    OF    GOD    IN    ALL    RELIGIOXS.  151 

names  have  kept  the  Monotheistic  element  promi- 
nent in  the  prevaiUng  rehgion  of  China  down  to 
the  present  time." 

The  orioinal  Vedic  reho-ion  was  a  form  of  Mono- 
theism,  but  a  very  pecuhar  one.  It  was  not  a 
monarchical  Monotheism  wherein  one  Deity  is  su- 
preme, like  that  of  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was  a 
system  in  w'hich  each  of  the  great  powers  of  na- 
ture were  alternately  deified  and  made  supreme. 
Varuna,  the  heavens ;  Surya,  the  sun ;  Indra,  the 
atmosphere  ;  Agni,  fire ;  and  other  beings,  were  in 
turn  worshipped  as  the  Most  High  God.  Infinite 
Spirit  appeared  embodied  in  every  part  of  nature. 
The  All  was  seen  in  each  part,  and  each  part  in- 
cluded All. 

Miiller  calls  it  Henotheism ;  and  this  word  will, 
probably,  be  allowed  to  stand.  But  that  it  is 
really  a  form  of  Monotheism  appears  in  this:  that 
whether  worshipped  as  the  heavens,  the  air,  the 
fire,  or  any  other  manifestation,  it  is  the  same  Su- 
preme Being,  w^ith  the  same  infinite  attributes,  who 
is  worshipped. 

Thus  the  hymns  of  the  Rig- Veda  address  Va- 
runa, or  the  Heavens,  as  universal  king,  divine,  of 
unbounded  knowledge,  who  has  made  heaven  and 
earth,  who  embraces  in  himself  the  three  worlds ; 
who  makes  the  sun  to  shine ;  wdiose  breath  is  the 
wind;  who,  by  his  wonderful  skill,  makes  the  rivers 
to  run  forever  into  the  sea,  but  never  fill  it ;  whose 


152  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

ordinances  are  unchangeable;  whose  messengers  go 
through  all  worlds ;  without  whom  no  creature  can 
make  the  least  motion ;  who  sees  all  that  happens ; 
from  whom  no  one  can  escape,  even  if  he  flee  be- 
yond the  sky ;  Avho  can  drive  away  evil  and  purify 
the  soul  from  sin,  prolong  life,  pardon  sin,  give 
eternal  happiness  to  the  good.  Of  Mitra,  Indra, 
Agni,  Savitri,  the  same  things  are  said.-^ 

It  is  evident  from  such  hymns  as  these,  ascrib- 
ing in  turn  supreme  power  to  different  beings,  that 
these  gods,  tkough  differently  named,  are  really 
one.  For  these  hymns  are  in  the  same  book,  and 
were  sung  by  the  same  worshippers.  Some  texts 
expressly  declare  this  identity ;  for  example,  here 
is  one  from  the  Rig- Veda :  "  They  call  him  Indra, 
Mitra,  Varuna,  Agni.  Sages  name  variously  that 
which  is  but  one.  Agni  becomes  Varuna  in  the 
evening;  rising  in  the  morning  he  becomes  Mitra; 
as  Savitri,  he  moves  through  the  air ;  becoming 
Indra,  he  glows  in  the  middle  of  the  sky." 

Herodotus,  —  one  of  the  earliest  European  stu- 
dents of  Egyptian  civilization,  usually  as  accurate 
as  he  was  observing,  a  student  filled  with  infinite 
curiosity  to  know  and  understand  all  the  facts  and 
phases  of  human  nature,  —  told  mankind,  twenty- 
three  centuries  ago,  that  the  Egyptians  of  Thebes 
recognized  "one  Supreme  God,  who  had  no  be- 
ginning and  would  have  no  end."    Jambliclms,  the 

^  See  Muir's  Sanskrit  Texts,  Second  Edition,  vol.  i. 


IDEA   OF    GOD    m   ALL   RELIGIONS.  153 

new  Platonist  (a.  d.  320),  quotes  from  the  old  Her- 
metic books  the  clecLaration :  "  Before  all  the  things 
that  actually  exist,  and  before  all  beginnings,  there 
is  one  God,  prior  even  to  the  first  God  and  King, 
remainino;  unmoved  in  the  sinsrleness  of  his  own 
unity." 

One  of  the  first  Egyptologists  (De  Rouge)  gave 
this  as  his  mature  judgment :  — 

"  No  one  has  called  in  question  the  fundamental  mean- 
ing of  the  principal  passages  by  the  help  of  which  we  are 
able  to  establish  what  ancient  Egypt  has  taught  concern- 
ing God,  the  world  and  man.  I  said  'God,'  not  'The 
Gods.'  The  first  characteristic  of  the  Religion  is  the 
unity  of  God,  —  God,  one,  sole,  and  only,  no  others  with 
him.  He  is  the  only  being  —  living  in  truth.  He  has 
made  everything."  .  .  . 

Among  all  the  local  names  of  Deity  "  one  idea 
predominates,  that  of  a  single  and  personal  God ; 
everywhere  and  always  it  is  one  substance,  self- 
existent  and  unapproachable."  "A  hymn  of  the 
Leyden  Museum  calls  God  '  the  One  of  One.' " 
"  These  doctrines  were  in  existence  two  thousand 
years  before  Christ.  More  than  five  thousand 
years  ago,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  the  hymn 
began  to  the  unity  of  God  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  The  belief  in  this  unity  of  the  Creator 
and  Law-Giver,  are  the  primitive  notions  remain- 
ing, overlaid  by  vast  mythologies  accumulated  in 
subsequent  centuries." 


154  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Thus  a  Hymn  to  Amun  —  the  supreme  God  of 
Thebes  —  says  :  — 

"Hail  to  thee,  Amun-Ra,  Lord  of, the  thrones  of  the 
earth,  the  oldest  existence,  ancient  of  heaven,  support  of 
all  things ;  chief  of  the  gods ;  lord  of  truth ;  father  of  the 
gods  ;  maker  of  men  and  beasts  and  herbs  ;  maker  of  all 
things  above  and  below  ;  deliverer  of  the  sufferer  and  op- 
pressed, judging  the  poor ;  lord  of  wisdom,  lord  of  mercy, 
most  loving,  opener  of  every  eye,  source  of  joy,  in  whose 
goodness  the  gods  rejoice,  thou  whose  name  is  hidden." 

"  Thou  art  the  one,  maker  of  all  that  is,  the  one ;  the 
only  one  ;  maker  of  gods  and  men  ;  giving  food  to  all." 

"  Hail  to  thee,  thou  one  with  many  heads ;  sleepless 
when  all  others  sleep,  adoration  to  thee." 

"  Hail  to  thee  from  all  creatures  from  every  land,  from 
the  height  of  heaven,  from  the  depth  of  the  sea.  The 
spirits  thou  hast  made  extol  thee,  saying,  '  Welcome  to 
thee,  father  of  the  fathers  of  the  gods ;  we  worship  thy 
spirit  which  is  in  us.'  " 

But  what  is  sung  and  declared  about  Amun  is 
also  said  about  Osiris. 

Osiris  is  called  ''  lord  of  eternity ;  king  of  the 
gods ;  substance  of  the  world ;  feeder  of  beings ; 
from  whom  came  the  waters,  and  the  winds ;  mas- 
ter of  all  the  gods ;  giver  of  food  to  men ;  eldest 
god  and  their  chief ;  who  made  the  world  and  all 
things  therein  j  who  maintains  law  in  the  universe ; 
beneficent  to  gods  and  men." 

That  these  are  one  and  the  same,  is  evident  from 
this  hymn  on  the  walls  of  a  temple  in  the  Oasis  of 
El-Khargeh :  — 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIOISrS.  155 

"  The  gods  salute  him  as  their  lord,  who  reveals  him- 
self in  all  that  is,  and  has  many  names.  It  is  Amun, 
persisting  in  all  things.  It  is  Ptah,  existing  from  the 
beginning.  Each  god  has  assumed  thy  aspect.  Thou 
raisest  up,  Osiris.  As  Ptah  thou  hast  made  both  worlds. 
As  Amun  thou  art  the  life  of  the  world.  Shu,  Tefnut, 
Nut,  Chonsu,  are  thy  forms.  Thou  art  Mentii-Ra.  Thou 
art  Sekar.  Thou  art  youth  and  age.  Thou  art  heaven, 
earth,  fire,  water,  air,  and  what  is  in  them  all." 

We  have  thus  far  seen  two  kinds  of  Monothe- 
ism —  both  imperfect.  The  first  posits  one  Su- 
preme Being,  presiding  over  a  body  of  inferior 
deities.  This  is  the  Monotheistic  element  in  the 
Polytheism  of  Greece,  of  Scandinavia,  and  of  all 
the  uncivilized  races.  The  other  kind  is  that  of 
the  Vedic  hymns  and  the  Egyj)tian  hymns,  in 
which  each  of  the  forces  of  nature  becomes  in 
turn  a  personal  and  Supreme  God,  with  infinite 
attributes.  There  is  a  singular  resemblance  be- 
tween the  theology  of  these  two  systems  of  ancient 
India  and  ancient  Egypt.  Both  have  the  concep- 
tion of  a  personal  being  of  infinite  power,  creator 
and  preserver  of  all  things,  above  nature,  before 
time,  flowing  through  all  things.  But  in  both  sys- 
tems this  Divine  Being  is  manifested  alternately  in 
one  power  of  nature  or  another;  in  the  heavens, 
the  storms,  the  sun,  the  fire ;  and  each  of  these 
becomes  in  turn  the  Supreme  and  Infinite  Being. 
This  Monotheism  resembles  a  Polytheism  strug- 
gling with  a  Pantheism. 


156  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

By  these  steps  Polytheism  and  Pantheism  pass 
up,  by  a  steady  and  sure  law  of  development,  into 
speculative  Monotheism  in  philosophy,  and  into  an 
included  Monotheism  in  religion.  They  culminate 
and  combine  in  the  prophetic  religion.  When  the 
faith  of  Abraham  and  Moses  became  the  state  re- 
ligion of  the  Jewish  nation,  Monotheism  for  the 
first  time  appeared  as  the  public  religion  of  a 
people.  Down  to  the  time  of  Christ  Judaism  was 
the  only  pure  national  Monotheism  among  men. 
All  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  all  except  the  lit- 
tle land  of  Palestine,  worshipped  numerous  deities. 
Judea  alone  long  maintained  its  inflexible  faith  in 
one  Supreme,  Invisible  Spirit,  Maker  of  all  things. 

§  4.    Origin  of  our  Belief  in  Spirit,  Cause,  Creator,  and 

the  Infinite  Being. 

We  have  thus  followed  the  idea  of  the  Deity  in 
all  religions,  from  its  lowest  form  in  Animism  up 
through  Polytheism,  Pantheism,  Ditheism,  Trithe- 
ism,  to  pure  Monotheism.  Whence  was  this  belief 
in  God,  which  we  find  so  universal,  derived  ?  We 
have  seen  that  all  men  believe  in  and  adore  un- 
seen powers,  higher  than  themselves.  This  wor- 
ship begins  in  one  great  faith,  universal  and  the  , 
same,  —  the  belief  in  the  presence  and  power  of 
invisible  spirits.  It  passes  up  through  various 
phases  of  belief,  and  then  at  last  becomes  once 
more  the  same  faith  j   namely,  belief  in  one  Su- 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  157 

preme  Spiritual  Being.  It  is  one  in  its  lowest 
form  as  Animism ;  one,  finally,  in  its  highest  form, 
as  Monotheism. 

The  only  source  from  which  man's  belief  in 
spirits  could  have  been  derived  is  the  conscious- 
ness that  he  is  himself  a  soul,  a  soul  with  a  body 
for  its  present  organ,  but  capable  of  existing  with- 
out this  organism.  Apart  from  this  consciousness, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  his  belief  in  disembodied 
spirits  could  have  come. 

The  second  step  is  taken  by  means  of  another 
universal  and  necessary  law  of  thought  —  belief 
in  causation.  All  things  around  are  in  perpetual 
change ;  but  a  law  of  the  mind  compels  us  to  be- 
lieve that  every  event  must  have  a  cause,  that  for 
every  change  there  must  exist  a  motive  force. 

This  notion  of  cause  is  deeply  rooted  in  every 
human  mind.  It  is  a  universal  idea,  for  all  men 
have  it.  It  is  a  necessary  idea,  for  we  cannot  help 
having  it,  even  if  we  deny  its  existence.  It  prob- 
ably arises  first  in  the  mind  on  the  occasion  of  our 
making  an  effort  and  seeing  some  result  follow. 
Cause  is  an  idea  connected  intimately  with  per- 
sonal action,  effort,  choice,  the  exercise  of  an  intel- 
ligent will.  Childlike  races,  looking  out  on  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  the  coming  of  dawn,  day 
and  night,  storm  and  sunshine,  spring-time  and 
harvest,  flowers  and  fruits,  and,  seeing  that  these 
were   caused   by   the   sun,    the    atmosphere,    the 


158  TEN"    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

spring  rains  and  summer  heats,  personified  these 
causes  as  the  Sun-god  and  Rain-god,  as  Agni,  God 
of  Fire,  and  Indra,  God  of  Storms.  Thus  the  sec- 
ond step  in  religious  beUef  was  talcen. 

The  next  idea  associated  with  the  gods  is  that 
of  creation.  This  belief  in  a  God  who  has  created 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  we  have  also  found  to 
be  very  widely  disseminated  among  races  in  every 
degree  of  civilization. 

What  was  the  origin  of  this  belief  ?  It  seems  to 
have  risen  in  the  mind  by  adding  to  the  idea  of 
causation  that  of  finality  or  design.  There  is  a 
universal  law  of  thought,  by  which  from  the  per- 
ception of  adaptation  we  infer  design.  I  do  not 
here  undertake  to  decide  if  this  be  an  original  in- 
tuition or  not,  but  at  present  it  is  a  law  of  thought 
which  works  like  an  instinct.  Nearly  the  whole 
life  of  man  is  spent  in  adapting  means  to  foreseen 
and  intended  ends.  From  the  hunter  setting  his 
trap  to  catch  game,  up  to  Shakespeare  designing 
the  i^lay  of  "  Hamlet,"  or  the  Apostle  Paul  plan- 
ning the  conversion  of  Europe,  through  all  hu- 
man industries,  arts,  amusements,  man  is  adapting 
means  to  ends  during  all  his  life.  When  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  landed  on  Cape  Cod,  before  they 
knew  Avhether  the  region  was  inhabited,  they 
"  came  to  a  tree  where  a  yOung  sprit  was  bowed 
down,  and  some  acorns  strewed  under  it.  As  we 
were  looking  at  it  William  Bradford  came  up,  and 


IDEA    OF    GOD    IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.  159 

as  he  went  about,  it  gave  a  sudden  jerk  up,  and  he 
was  caught  by  the  leg.  Stephen  Hopkms  said,  ^  It 
was  made  to  catch  some  deer.'  It  is  a  very  pretty 
device."  No  one  thought  it  a  freak  of  nature. 
Adaptation  proved  design.  In  a  stratum  of  sand 
belonging  to  a  geological  epoch  where  the  pres- 
ence of  man  had  not  then  been  suspected,  there 
were  found  stones  rudely  shaped  into  some  kind  of 
tools.  Their  adaptation  to  cutting  and  grinding 
was  at  once  regarded  as  a  sufficient  proof  of  de- 
sign, therefore  as  evidence  that  men  had  existed 
on  the  earth  at  that  remote  period.  No  one  can 
contemplate  the  myriad  adaptations  of  means  to 
ends  in  nature  without  being  impressed  with  the 
sense  of  intelligent  purpose.  We  do  not  stop  now 
to  consider  the  modern  metaphysical  objections  to 
finality  in  nature.  Such  objections  certainly  never 
disturbed  the  primitive  reason  of  mankind.  To 
the  common  sense  of  the  childlike  races,  no  less 
than  to  the  penetrating  thought  of  Socrates,  it  was 
enough  to  look  at  the  immense  order  of  the  uni- 
verse, its  infinite  variety  and  majestic  unity,  its 
thousand-fold  adaptations  to  life,  growth,  and  the 
progress  of  the  creature,  to  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  the  work  of  some  divine  architect,  some 
celestial  Demiurg. 

One  more  step  was  to  be  taken.  If  there  are 
supernatural  beings  above  man,  yet  caring  for 
man,  and  if  among  these  there  is  a  Supreme  Be- 


160  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIOJiS. 

ino;  maintainino:  the  order  of  the  universe,  it  needs 
only  to  proceed  a  little  farther  in  this  process  of 
thought  to  reach  the  pure  Monotheism  of  the 
Greek  philosophy  and  the  Egyptian  mysteries.  A 
contemplation  of  the  world  without  shows  univer- 
sal law,  fixed  and  invariable  order,  the  perma- 
nence of  being ;  and  on  this  permanence  of  exist- 
ing law  our  whole  mind  and  heart  reposes  securely. 
The  invariable  order  of  things  is  the  only  guaran- 
tee of  our  sanity,  and  to  maintain  this  order  we 
need  infinite  power,  infinite  wisdom,  and  infinite 
goodness.  This  conception  of  Infinite  Being,  ex- 
isting in  boundless  space  and  eternal  duration,  is 
given  us  by  another  law  of  thought,  behind  which 
we  cannot  go.  Given  the  finite,  there  is  a  neces- 
sity to  believe  in  the  infinite.  This  is  a  conception 
so  lofty  as  to  seem  above  the  capacity  of  a  created 
mind,  and  yet  it  is  one  of  the  primal  truths  from 
which  no  human  reason  can  escape.  It  is  one  of 
those  of  which  Epictetus  says :  "  He  who  denies 
self-evident  truths  cannot  be  reasoned  with." 

§  5.  The  Christian  Idea  of  God  combines  the  other   con- 
ceptions of  Deity  with  that  of  Infinite  Love. 

The  mixture  of  a  hidden  and  private  Monothe- 
ism with  a  public  Polytheism  was  the  religion  of 
the  civilized  world,  with  the  exception  of  Judea, 
when  Christ  came.  Now,  probably,  one  half  of  the 
human  race  have  a  Monotheistic  relit^ion.     These 


\ 


V 


IDEA  OF  GOD  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.      161 

Monotheistic  religions  are  the  work  of  two  proph- 
ets, Moses  and  Jesus,  from  whose  teaching's  Mo- 
hammed  drew  his  own  inspiration.  The  semi- 
Monotheism  of  China  and  Eastern  Asia  is  also  the 
result  of  the  teaching  of  two  great  souls,  Buddha 
and  Confucius.  The  nature  of  their  inspiration 
we  shall  consider  in  another  chapter.  Christianity 
teaches  the  highest  form  of  Monotheism.  Jesus 
gives  no  personal  name  to  the  Deity,  as  the  relig- 
ions before  him  had  done.  He  does  not  call  God 
by  the  sacred  Jewish  name  of  Yahveh,  but  by  a 
word  designating  his  character  of  parental  care 
and  love,  "  Father."  The  peculiarity  of  Christian 
Monotheism  is  that  it  combines  with  the  concep- 
tion of  one  Supreme,  All-perfect  Being,  Maker  and 
Ruler  of  all  things,  which  is  the  philosophic  Mono- 
theism, and  with  that  of  holy  Law-giver  and 
Judge,  and  Beneficent  Providence,  the  faith  in  an 
infinite  tenderness  of  love.  God  in  Christ  comes 
near  to  each  soul,  as  an  ever-present  friend  and 
helper ;  as  one  who  forgives  and  saves  ;  a  perpet- 
ual inspiration  and  guide  ;  a  friend  nearer  than 
any  other  to  every  child  high  or  low.  Farther 
than  this  Monotheism  can  hardly  go,  for  this  com- 
bines the  two  extremes  of  religious  thought  in  a 
harmonious  whole,  that  of  the  Being  who  is  infi- 
nitely removed  from  us  by  his  greatness,  and  the 
Being  who  comes  nearest  to  us  by  his  love.     This 

is  the  fullness  of  him  who  fills  all  in  all. 

11 


y 


162  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   SOUL   AND   ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS  ;    IN   ALL 

RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Universal  faith  in  the  independent  existence  and  survival 
of  the  human  soul.  The  belief  in  Ghosts  a  proof  of  it.  §  2. 
Double  souls  and  a  double  consciousness.  Is  there  any  evi- 
dence of  this  ?  Soul  and  Shadow.  §  3.  Does  Buddhism 
deny  the  existence  of  the  soul  ?  §  4.  The  Philosophical  ba- 
sis of  belief  in  a  soul.  §  5.  The  objections  of  Materialism. 
§  6.  Preexistence  and  Transmigration.  The  doctrine  of  Brah- 
manism  and  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  §  7.  Transmigration 
among  the  Buddhists.  §  8.  Foundation  of  this  belief.  §  9. 
Human  traits  in  primitive  organisms.  Chief  distinction  be- 
tween the  human  and  animal  soul.  §  10.  The  evolution  of 
the  soul,  as  an  improvement  on  the  doctrine  of  Darwin. 

§  1.    Universal  faith  in   the   independent   existence  and 
survival  of  the  human  soul. 

OF  all  the  beliefs  of  man  in  regard  to  the  su- 
pernatural world,  the  belief  in  a  human  soul 
as  a  substantial  essence,  capable  of  existing  inde- 
pendently of  the  body,  has  prevailed  most  widely. 
It  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  all  times, 
among  all  classes,  however  widely  separated  from 
each  other  by  physical  and  moral  barriers.     The 


THE    SOUL   AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       163 

lowest  tribes  of  savages  unite  with  the  most  sub- 
lime philosophers  in  this  conviction.  On  this  point 
the  Hottentot  and  the  Fiji  islander  agree  with 
Plato  and  Aristotle. 

The  evidence  of  this  belief  among  the  lower 
races,  who  have  no  metaphysical  theories  or  lan- 
guage, is  to  be  found  in  their  universal  conviction 
that  all  men  continue  to  exist  after  the  death  of 
the  body,  as  disembodied  spirits,  or,  as  we  say, 
ghosts. 

Our  word  "  ghost,"  it  must  be  remembered,  the 
same  as  the  German  "geist,"  simply  means  a 
spirit.  Now  the  belief  of  the  existence  of  disem- 
bodied spirits  is  well-nigh  universal  among  the 
primitive  races.  All  believe  in  apparitions,  in  un- 
substantial appearances  of  departed  friends.  The 
Esquimaux  in  the  Arctic  Circle  of  North  America ; 
the  natives  of  Siberia  in  the  same  latitudes  in 
Asia ;  the  Australians  and  Patagonians  at  the  other 
extreme  of  the  world ;  the  great  religions  of  an- 
tiquity —  those  of  Egypt,  China,  India,  Persia, 
Greece,  Rome,  Mexico,  Peru,  the  Tartar  tribes  of 
Central  Asia,  the  Negroes  of  Central  and  Western 
Africa  ;  the  inhabitants  of  the  innumerable  islands 
of  the  Pacific  —  have  all  believed  in  such  a  contin- 
ued spiritual  existence  of  the  dead.  This  belief 
could  only  have  come  from  one  of  two  sources  — 
from  outward  experience  or  inward  consciousness. 
Either  they  have  all  actually  seen  ghosts,  and  be- 


164  TEN    GEEAT    EELIGIONS. 

lieve  in  tliem  for  that  reason,  or  else  they  have 
not  seen  them.  If  they  have  not  seen  them,  if 
ghosts  have  never  appeared,  this  universal  belief 
has  prevailed  with  no  facts  of  outward  experience 
to  support  it.  It  must  then  be  based  on  some  pro- 
found and  universal  fact  of  inward  experience.  Is 
there  any  such  fact  ?  There  is.  We  are  conscious 
of  a  thinking,  feeling,  and  acting  self,  which  has 
no  bodily  qualities.  This  self  acts  and  feels  in 
every  part  of  the  body,  and  yet  is  not  located  in 
any  part,  for  if  a  part  of  the  body  is  lost,  the 
thinking  and  feeling  and  acting  energy  remains 
unimpaired.  It  seems  to  go  out  of  the  body  in 
dreams,  in  memory,  in  imagination,  and  in  thought 
which  makes  the  past  present,  the  distant  near. 
The  soul  seems  to  leave  the  body  in  dreams,  for 
then  it  enters  into  another  world,  seemingly  as  real 
as  this  one.  It  has  a  marvelous  unity,  correlating 
and  combining  in  a  central  self  or  ego,  imagina- 
tion, memory,  hope  and  fear,  love  and  hatred, 
thought  and  sensation,  action,  choice,  and  passive 
receptivity.  It  is  the  one  simple  ego  which  has 
all  this  experience.  Our  consciousness  does  not 
allow  us  to  suppose  that  one  part  of  the  soul  is  de- 
voted to  thought,  another  part  to  feeling,  and  the 
like.  We  say,  "  I  think,  I  feel,  I  remember,  I  am 
in  pain,  I  like  the  taste  of  this  fruit,  I  smell  the 
perfume  of  that  rose,  I  foresee  that  some  evil  may 
occur,  I  intend  to  build  a  house  next  year."     It  is 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TEANSMIGEATIONS.       165 

one  and  the  Scame  undivided,  indivisible  self  which 
does  all  this.  The  consciousness  of  this  indivisible 
unity,  a  unity  of  which  the  body  is  incapable,  is 
the  same  in  the  savage  and  the  philosopher.  It  is 
a  primitive,  universal,  and  necessary  conviction. 
The  body  dissolves  at  death,  but  the  self  within 
the  body  is  indissoluble.  It  continues  one  and  the 
same  through  all  the  changes  of  life,  and  therefore 
wall  continue,  men  believe,  after  the  physical  body 
dies.  Primitive  man  does  not  argue  in  this  way, 
and  convince  himself  thus  of  his  immortality ;  but 
the  belief  is  the  natural  outo;rowth  of  his  self-con- 
sciousness. 

§  2.  Double  souls  and  a  double  consciousness.    Any  'proof 

of  tJiis'^ 

Some  eminent  thinkers,  however,  take  a  differ- 
ent view.  They  tell  us  that  the  man  who  sleeps 
and  dreams  thinks  he  has  two  individualities,  one 
of  which  leaves  the  other  in  his  sleep,  and  comes 
back  to  it  ag:ain  when  he  wakes. 

Schoolcraft  reports  that  "  the  North  American 
Indians  believe  in  duplicate  souls,  one  of  which 
remains  with  the  body,  while  the  other  departs 
during  sleep."  But  this  is  surely  a  misinterpreta- 
tion of  their  idea.  There  is  evidence  enough  that 
many  primitive  races  believe  that  the  conscious 
thinking  soul  leaves  the  body  during  sleep.  But 
there  is  not  a  second  conscious  thinking  soul  left 


166  TEN    GEEAT   RELIGIONS. 

behind.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  human  be- 
ing, on  awakening  from  a  dream,  ever  remembered 
that  he  existed  simultaneously  in  two  distinct  se- 
ries of  conscious  thoughts  and  actions.  His  think- 
ing self  was  only  one.  It  seemed  to  leave  his  body 
and  go  elsewhere.  He  saw  that  the  body  had  a 
principle  of  life  left  with  it,  but  not  a  second  prin- 
ciple of  thought.  This  theory,  then,  of  a  double 
soul  is  a  mere  misuse  of  words,  and  rests  on  no 
scientific  basis  of  observation  or  experience. 

There  have  been  instances  of  persons  who,  by 
some  strange  cerebral  conditions,  have  passed  from 
one  state  of  consciousness  into  another,  and  in  the 
second  state  have  forgotten  all  they  knew  in  the 
previous  condition.  They  have  then  passed  back, 
during  an  interval  of  sleep,  into  their  original 
state,  instantly  remembering  all  they  learned  be- 
fore while  in  that  condition,  but  forgetting  all  they 
knew  in  the  second.  But  even  this  extremely  rare 
phenomenon  does  not  justify  the  assumption  of 
a  double  soul.  The  patient  in  this  case  had  no 
double  consciousness,  but  simply  forgot  in  one  con- 
dition what  was  remembered  in  another.  This  was 
not  having  two  souls,  but  it  was  one  soul  passing 
into  two  different  states  of  thought  and  life. 

It  is  often  asserted  that  the  primitive  races  re- 
gard their  shadows  as  their  soul,  and  hence  it  is 
argued  that  the  very  notion  of  the  soul  may  have 
been  derived  from  the  sight  of  the  shadow.     This 


THE    SOUL   AXD   ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       167 

is  reversing  the  order  of  thought.  The  idea  of 
the  soul  must  have  existed  before  it  could  have 
been  compared  to  a  shadow.  When  the  Romans 
called  a  disembodied  spirit  an  "umbra,"  or  shadow, 
and  the  Greeks  used  the  same  word,  they  simply 
meant  that  it  was  unsubstantial,  like  a  shadow. 

As  a  shadow  is  visible,  but  not  tangible,  as  it 
retains  the  outline  of  the  form,  so  the  ghost  was 
believed  to  be  visible  but  not  tangible,  and  to  have 
a  vasfue  outline  of  the  human  form.  But  how 
could  any  human  being  believe  that  the  shadow 
which  always  accompanies  the  body,  and  is  never 
seen  without  it,  can  be  the  spirit  which  has  no 
body,  and  which  leaves  the  bod}^  in  dreams  ?  The 
most  strikino;  case  on  record  of  such  an  imag-ina- 
tion  is  in  the  story  of  Peter  Schlemil,  the  man  who 
sold  his  shadow.  We  ourselves  often  use  the  word 
shadow  to  express  something  unsubstantial,  as 
when  we  say,  "  What  shadows  we  are,  and  what 
shadows  we  pursue  !  "  No  one  Avould  infer  from 
this  that  we  considered  our  souls  to  be  the  shad- 
ows. We  can  usually  best  get  at  the  conceptions 
of  the  undeveloped  races  by  recalling  our  own  no- 
tions when  we  were  children.  We  shall  remem- 
ber, I  think,  that  our  shadow  had  a  mysterious 
quality  to  our  infantile  mind.  It  aroused  our 
fancy ;  we  may  have  tried  to  run  away  from  it ; 
we  have  stamped  upon  it ;  it  was  an  attendant 
from  which  we  could  not  get  away.     But  it  never 


168  TEN    GREAT    EELIGION'S. 

occurred  to  us  for  a  moment  that  it  was  our  soul, 
or  self.  Similar  childish  fancies  take  possession  of 
the  childlike  races.  The  natives  of  Benin  call  a 
man's  shadow  his  guide,  and  believe  it  will  witness 
if  he  has  done  well  or  ill.  The  Basutos  are  care- 
ful not  to  let  their  shadow  fall  on  the  river,  lest  a 
crocodile  should  seize  it,  and  draw  them  in. 

§  3.  Does  Buddhism  deny  the  existence  of  the  soul  ? 

One  remarkable  and  unaccountable  exception, 
if  it  is  an  exception,  to  the  universal  belief  of 
mankind  in  the  soul,  as  a  simple  substantial  prin- 
ciple of  feeling,  thought,  and  will,  known  by  con- 
sciousness, is  the  great  religion  of  Buddha.  We 
are  positively  assured  by  the  best  informed  writers 
on  this  religion,  that  it  persistently  denies  and  re- 
jects the  notion  of  a  soul  in  man.  This  is  stated  in 
the  most  decided  form  by  Rhys  Davids,  one  of  the 
most  recent  and  learned  writers.  Buddhism,  he 
says,  teaches  that  man  is  a  flux  of  emotions, 
thought,  acts,  with  no  abiding  principle  behind 
them.  He  quotes  a  passage  from  the  "  Sutta  Pi- 
taka,"  to  the  effect  that  the  unlearned  and  sensual 
man  regards  the  soul  as  residing  in  sensation  and 
matter,  and  so  gets  the  idea  "  I  am."  But  the 
wise  man  who  has  escaped  both  from  ignorance 
and  from  acquired  knowledge  does  not  have  this 
idea,  "  I  am." 

Here,  however,  comes  in  the  necessity  of  under- 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       169 

standing  the  meaning  of  words,  of  entering  into 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  Buddhist  thinker.  It  is 
of  small  consequence  to  have  any  statement,  un- 
less we  comprehend  the  intention  of  the  man  who 
makes  it. 

Now  the  whole  purpose  of  original  Buddhism 
was  to  teach  men  how  to  escape  the  miseries  of 
life  by  the  destruction  of  desire.  Among  these 
desires  is  the  wish  for  continued  existence.  This 
also  must  be  destroyed.  Therefore  the  Pitakas, 
or  oldest  religious  books,  perpetually  repeat  such 
statements  as  this  :  — 

'•  I  see  in  the  world  this  trembHiig  race  given  to  desire 
for  existences ;  they  lament  in  the  mouth  of  death,  not 
being  free  from  the  desire  for  reiterated  existences.  Look 
on  those  men  trembling  with  selfishness ;  let  them  be  un- 
selfish, not  having  any  attachment  to  existences." 

The  object  being  to  produce  perfect  peace  by 
the  destruction  of  all  desire  —  even  the  desire  for 
continued  existence  —  the  remedy  must  be  found 
in  knowledge,  which  is  the  Buddhist  way  of  salva- 
tion. Brahmanism  in  the  time  of  Buddha  sought 
the  same  end.  The  Laws  of  Manu  say  of  the  sage: 
"  Let  him  not  seek  for  death,  let  him  not  seek  for 
life."  But  their  method  of  extinguishing  all  desire 
was  by  ascetic  mortifications.  Buddha  had  tried 
these,  and  found  them  insufficient.  His  great  dis- 
covery was  that  salvation  came  through  knowl- 
edge, knowledge  of  the  laws  of  being.    He  reached 


170  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

that  state,  not  by  reasoning  or  philosophy,  which 
he  declares  can  never  produce  knowledge,  but  only 
fluctuating  opinion.  To  him  knowledge  came  by 
an  interior  insight  of  spiritual,  moral,  and  physical 
laws.  To  destroy  all  desire,  the  desire  for  future 
existence  must  be  destroyed.  This  is  destroyed 
by  seeing  that  there  is  no  soul,  or  personal  identity, 
or  ego  to  continue.  Thus  Buddhism  seems  to  deny 
the  existence  of  the  soul. 

On  the  other  hand  it  teaches  transmigration. 
This  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  with  Buddhism. 
But  how  can  there  be  a  migration  of  souls  from 
one  body  to  another,  unless  there  are  souls  to  mi- 
grate ?  The  answer  is  an  ingenious  one.  Here 
comes  in  the  great  law  called  Karma,  which  is  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect  made  universal.  Every 
moral  or  immoral  action  which  a  man  performs 
produces  its  result.  If  he  does  right  he  goes  up, 
if  wrong;  he  s-oes  down.  When  a  man  dies  the 
whole  results  of  his  life  are  summed  up  in  a  new 
being,  who  takes  his  place  by  the  law  of  Karma. 
He  does  not  pass  into  another  body,  but  another 
being  appears  as  the  consequence  of  his  conduct. 
So  the  Buddhist  metaphysicians  say,  that  what  we 
call  transmigration  is  really  metamorphosis. 

But  this  fine-spun  doctrine  belongs  to  the  meta- 
physics, not  to  the  religion  of  Buddhism.  Even 
Hardy  himself  tells  us  that  "  it  is  almost  univer- 
sally repudiated."     "^'In  historical  composition,  in 


V 


THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  TRANSMIGRATIONS.   171 

narrative,  and  in  conversation,  the  common  idea  of 
transmigration  is  always  presented.  We  meet  with 
innumerable  passages  like  the  following  :  "  These 
four,  by  the  help  of  Buddha,  went  after  death  to 
the  celestial  world.  '  I  myself  was  the  wise  mer- 
chant of  this  transaction.'  " 

This  Buddhist  doctrine  of  no  soul  is,  therefore, 
no  exception  to  the  general  law.  The  Buddhists, 
like  the  rest  of  mankind,  believe  in  the  personal 
ego,  and  its  continued  existence  hereafter.  What- 
ever their  metaphysics  may  demand,  their  faith 
is  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  individual 
through  many  births  and  deaths  till  he  reach  Nir- 
vana. One  of  the  most  learned  writers  on  Bud- 
dhism, Samuel  Beal,  takes  this  view  in  his  intro- 
duction to  "  The  Romantic  History  of  Buddha." 

■§  4.   The  philosophical  basis  of  belief  in  a  soul. 

We  have  seen  how  belief  in  a  personal  self  arises 
through  consciousness.  Observation  of  organized 
life  leads  to  a  like  conclusion.  We  observe  in  all 
animals  and  plants  an  organization  in  which  mat- 
ter is  governed,  moulded,  renewed,  correlated  and 
brought  into  unity  by  some  power  not  perceptible 
to  the  senses.  There  is  a  cause  which  operates 
steadily  and  constantly  on  every  part  of  the  organ- 
ization, bringring-  all  under  the  use  of  the  unit,  — 
a  law  of  growth  in  the  plant,  of  sensation  in  the 
animal,  of  thought  in  the  man.     While  the  vital 


172  TEN"    GEE  AT    RELIGIONS. 

vortex  is  going  on,  all  the  physical  laws  to  which 
the  molecules  of  the  body  are  otherwise  subject 
are  neutralized  and  overcome.  The  law  of  gravity 
is  neutralized  and  overcome  in  the  plant  which 
grows  upward.  The  law  of  inertia  is  overcome  in 
.  animals,  who  can  originate  motion.  The  chemical 
laws  are  overcome  in  plants  and  animals,  which 
resist  change  and  decay.  If  the  phrase  vital  prin- 
ciple is  objected  to,  no  one  can  deny  the  existence 
of  a  vital  unity,  which  is  unexplained  by  the  senses. 
We  are  obliged  to  suppose  some  cause  of  all  this, 
and  a  common  cause  of  this  correlation.  Men 
have  decided  to  call  it  life  or  soul. 

Not  only  has  the  existence  of  the  soul  been  re- 
ceived in  all  religions  (with  the  apparent  excep- 
tion of  Buddhism),  but  also  it  has  been  the  basis  of 
all  philosophies  which  deserve  that  name. 

According  to  Pythagoras  the  soul  is  an  emana- 
tion of  the  world-soul,  and  so  partakes  of  the  divine 
nature.  At  death  it  leaves  this  body  to  take  an- 
other, and  so  goes  through  the  circle  of  appointed 
forms.  The  soul  in  man  is  a  self-moving  principle. 
Ovid  describes  this  Pythagorean  view  of  transmi- 
gration in  verses  thus  translated  by  Dry  den :  — 

"  Souls  cannot  die.     They  leave  a  former  home 
And  in  new  bodies  dwell,  and  from  them  roam. 
Nothing  can  perish,  all  things  change  below, 
For  spirits  through  all  forms  may  come  and  go. 
Good  beasts  shall  rise  to  human  forms;  and  men, 
If  bad,  shall  backward  turn  to  beasts  again. 


THE    SOUL   AND    ITS    TRAKSMIGRATIONS.        173 

Thus,  through  a  thousand  shapes,  the  soul  shall  go, 
And  thus  fulfill  its  destiny  below." 

The  human  soul,  according  to  Plato,  is  essen- 
tially rational.  It  is  pure  mincl,  but  associated 
with  a  lower  animal  soul,  composed  of  energy  or 
active  power,  and  desire  or  passive  affection. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  argued  in  the 
beautiful  dialogue  of  PhfBdo,  one  of  the  most 
charming;  w^orks  in  all  literature.  According;  to 
Socrates,  in  this  dialogue,  the  soul  is  the  ego, 
the  mind  which  thinks,  loves,  and  acts,  and  when 
death  comes,  it  is  not  the  mind  which  dies,  but  the 
body.  At  the  close  of  this  long  dialogue,  one  of 
the  disciples  of  Socrates  asks  him  what  he  wishes 
them  to  do  with  him  after  his  death.  He  smiles 
and  says :  "  Anything  you  please,  if  you  can  catch 
me." 

According  to  the  Stoics,  the  soul  is  an  emanation 
of  the  Deity,  an  inborn  breath  of  God,  extending 
through  the  body. 

According  to  Aristotle,  all  living  things  have  a 
soul ;  the  plant  has  a  soul  which  enables  it  to 
grow ;  it  is  a  constructive  force.  The  vital  force 
of  the  animal  adds  to  this,  sensation,  desire,  loco- 
motion ;  in  man,  the  faculty  of  reason  is  added. 

§  5.  Tlie  objections  of  materialism.    Why  do  some  modern 
thinkers  deny  the  existence  of  the  soid? 

Materialism  assumes  that  what  we  call  soul  is 


174  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIOISrS. 

the  result  of  bodily  organization.  (1.)  Because  all 
we  know  are  sensible  phenomena.  (2.)  Because 
the  state  of  the  mind  conforms  constantly  to  the 
condition  of  the  body.  All  we  know,  it  says,  is 
sensible  phenomena,  outward  facts,  and  the  group- 
ing of  these  facts  into  laws.  But  the  simple  an- 
swer of  common  sense  to  this  statement  is,  that 
we  know  mind  better  than  we  know  body ;  that 
thought,  love,  and  purpose  are  not  sensible  phe- 
nomena, and  yet  we  are  certain  of  their  exist- 
ence. All  we  know  of  matter  we  know  through 
the  senses ;  it  is  that  which  is  hard  and  soft,  ex- 
tended in  space,  which  has  shape,  color,  and  so 
forth.  All  we  know  of  mind  is  different.  More- 
over, the  mind  has  a  unity  and  identity  not  found 
in  matter  ;  it  is  simple,  indivisible  unity ;  whereas 
matter  is  capable  of  division.  It  is  one  and  the 
same  soul  which  thinks,  feels,  remembers,  hopes, 
chooses,  laments,  imagines.  It  is  the  same  soul 
which  existed  last  year  and  exists  now.  But  mat- 
ter is  always  changing,  never  the  same.  Moreover, 
there  is  a  principle  of  life  which  correlates  all  parts 
of  a  living  body,  and  keeps  them  working  together. 
Great  objection  has  been  made  to  calling  this  the 
vital  principle,  on  the  ground  that  this  assumes 
the  existence  of  the  soul  before  it  is  proved.  But 
the  eminent  naturalist,  Quatrefages,  says  he  must 
use  some  such  word  to  describe  the  vital  vortex, 
for  the  fact  exists.     The  equilibrium  of  life  is  not 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TKANSMIGRATIOXS.       175 

maintained  by  the  molecular  motion  of  tlie  atoms, 
for  these  act  independently  of  each  other.  The 
unity  of  organic  life  is  maintained  by  some  power 
not  in  the  material  particles  themselves.  Call  it 
soul,  or  vital  principle,  or  by  any  other  name,  its 
existence  is  certain.  You  cannot  explain  life  in 
terms  of  matter  and  motion.  The  guK  between 
an  atom  of  inorganic  matter  and  the  lowest  form 
of  life  has  never  been  passed  over  by  human 
thous^ht. 

The  second  objection  of  materialism  to  the  ex- 
istence of  an  immaterial  soul  is  that  the  condition 
of  the  body  affects  the  soul,  inevitably  and  always. 
A  little  improper  food  taken  into  the  system  affects 
the  mind;  a  drop  of  blood  extravasated  in  the 
brain  destroys  the  power  of  thought ;  as  the  body 
grows  old,  the  mind  weakens ;  as  the  brain  fibres 
decay,  memory  goes ;  without  phosphorus,  no 
thought,  —  is  not  then  thought  the  result  of  the 
body?  To  this,  however,  the  answer  is  conclu- 
sive. All  these  facts  only  prove  that  while  the 
soul  is  in  this  body,  the  body  is  its  necessary  organ 
of  communication  with  the  outward  world.  Just 
as  a  carpenter  cannot  work  when  his  tools  are 
dull;  as  the  most  accomplished  musician  cannot 
charm  our  souls  when  the  strings  of  his  piano  are 
out  of  tune,  or  broken ;  so  the  soul  cannot  com- 
municate with  us  when  the  body  is  disordered.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  we  could  not  think  if  the 


176  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

proper  amount  of  phosphorus  was  not  supplied  to 
the  bram.  But  this  is  no  such  great  discovery. 
Not  "  phosphorus  "  alone,  but  a  good  many  other 
chemical  elements  have  always  been  known  to  be 
necessary.  Without  oxygen,  no  thought ;  without 
hydrogen  and  carbon,  no  thought.  All  this  merely 
means  that  while  the  soul  remains  in  its  present 
environment,  it  needs  a  healthy  bodily  organiza- 
tion with  which  to  do  its  work. 

§  6.  Preexistence  and  Transmigration.     The  doctrine  of 

Brahmanism, 

We  must  now  pass  on  to  consider  the  doctrine 
of  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of  the  soul,  so 
alien  to  our  ways  of  thought,  but  once  so  univer- 
sally believed.  It  was  taught  by  three  great  re- 
ligions, that  of  Egypt,  of  Brahmanism,  and  of 
Buddhism ;  by  Pythagoras,  Empedocles,  and  Plato, 
among  Greek  philosophers;  by  the  Neo-Platonists, 
the  Jewish  Cabbala,  and  the  Arab  philosophers; 
by  Origen  and  other  church  fathers ;  by  the  Gnos- 
tics, the  Manicheans,  the  Druids;  and,  in  recent 
times,  by  Fourier  and  others. 

The  soul,  Psyche,  soul-unit,  or  vital  monad,  being 
assumed,  four  questions  arise  :  — 

1.  Did  these  monads  exist  before  they  entered 
the  living  bodies  of  plants,  animals,  and  men,  or 
not? 

2.  Will  they  exist  after  leaving  these  bodies,  or 
not? 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       177 

3.  If  they  preexisted,  how  ? 

4.  If  they  continue  to  exist,  how  ? 

The  human  race,  almost  universally,  as  we  have 
seen,  has  answered  the  second  question  in  the 
affirmative  as  regards  the  human  monad.  The 
conscious  thinking,  willing,  feeling  soul  will  con- 
tinue to  exist  after  the  dissolution  of  the  body. 

But,  as  regards  the  first  question :  Have  these 
vital  monads  existed  before  their  existence  here  ? 
the  answers  are  not  so  unanimous. 

A  vast  multitude  of  men,  in  former  days,  and  a 
majority  of  those  now  existing,  answer  Yes.  It  is 
curious  to  see  how  many  have  believed  in  preex- 
istence  because  they  believed  in  transmigration. 

The  doctrine  of  preexistence  has  been  very  gen- 
erally held,  in  one  or  another  form.  It  has  been 
believed  to  explain  a  part  of  the  mystery  of  evil. 
If  men  were  born  under  unfortunate  conditions, 
with  depraved  organizations,  it  was  assumed  that 
it  was  in  consequence  of  some  sin  committed  in  a 
former  state.  When  the  Jews  asked  Jesus,  "  Did 
this  man  sin,  or  his  father,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  " 
they  asked  which  of  two  contending  theories  of 
evil  was  the  true  one :  that  of  Moses,  who  taught 
that  the  sins  of  the  fathers  would  descend  on  the 
children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation;  or 
the  subsequently  adopted  theory  of  transmigra- 
tion, by  which  a  man's  present  discomforts  were 
the  result  of  his  own  misconduct  in  a  former  state 

12 


178  TEN    GKEAT   RELIGIONS. 

of  existence  ?  Preexistence  and  transmigration 
were  both  held  as  a  part  of  a  system  of  penal  ret- 
ribution. 

This  view  of  transmigration,  as  retribution,  was 
held  in  ancient  Brahmanism,  as  will  appear  from 
the  following  passages  from  the  "Laws  of  Manu," 
a  Sanskrit  work  written,  some  say,  eight  hundred 
years  before  Christ :  — 

"  Be  it  known  that  the  three  qualities  of  the  rational 
soul  are  a  tendency  to  goodness,  to  passion,  and  to  dark- 
ness ;  and,  endued  with  one  or  more  of  them,  it  remains 
incessantly  attached  to  all  these  created  substances. 

"  Let  the  wise  consider,  as  belonging  to  the  quality  of 
darkness,  every  act  which  a  man  is  ashamed  of  having 
done,  of  doing,  or  of  going  to  do. 

"  Let  them  consider,  as  proceeding  from  the  quality  of 
passion,  every  act  by  which  a  man  seeks  exaltation  and 
celebrity  in  this  world,  though  he  may  not  be  much  af- 
flicted if  he  fail  of  attaining  his  object. 

"  To  the  quality  of  goodness  belongs  every  act  by 
■which  he  hopes  to  acquire  divine  knowledge,  which  he  is 
never  ashamed  of  doing,  and  which  brings  placid  joy  to 
his  conscience. 

"  Of  the  dark  qualitj'-,  as  described,  the  principal  ob- 
ject is  pleasure ;  of  the  passionate,  worldly  prosperity  ; 
but  of  the  good  quality  the  chief  object  is  virtue,  —  the 
last  mentioned  objects  are  superior  in  dignity. 

"  Such  transmigrations  as  the  soul  procures  in  this  uni- 
verse by  each  of  those  qualities,  I  now  will  declare  in 
order  succinctly. 

"  Souls,  endued  with  goodness,  attain  always  the  state 


THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  TRANSMIGRATIONS.   179 

of  deities ;  those  filled  with  ambitious  passions,  the  con- 
dition of  men  ;  and  those  immersed  in  darkness  the  na- 
ture of  beasts,  —  this  is  the  triple  order  of  transmigra- 
tion. 

"  What  particular  bodies  the  vital  spirit  enters  in  this 
world,  and  in  consequence  of  what  sins  here  committed, 
now  hear  at  large  and  in  order. 

"  A  priest  who  has  drunk  spirituous  liquor  shall  mi- 
grate into  the  form  of  a  smaller  or  larger  worm  or  insect, 
of  a  moth,  or  of  some  ravenous  animal. 

"  If  a  man  steal  grain  in  the  husk  he  shall  be  born  a 
rat ;  if  a  yellow-mixed  metal,  a  gander  ;  if  water,  a  plava, 
or  diver  ;  if  honey,  a  great  stinging  gnat ;  if  milk,  a  crow; 
if  expressed  juice,  a  dog ;  if  clarified  butter,  an  ichneu- 
mon weasel. 

"  As  far  as  vital  souls,  addicted  to  sensuality,  indulge 
themselves  in  forbidden  pleasures,  even  to  the  same  de- 
gree shall  the  acuteness  of  their  senses  be  raised  in  their 
future  bodies,  that  they  may  endure  analogous  pains. 

"  Then  shall  follow  separations  from  kindred  and 
friends,  forced  residence  with  the  wicked,  painful  gains 
and  ruinous  losses  of  wealth  ;  friendships  hardly  acquired, 
and  at  length  changed  into  enmities. 

"  Let  every  Brahman  with  fixed  attention  consider  all 
nature,  both  visible  and  invisible,  as  existing  in  the  di- 
vine spirit ;  for,  when  he  contemplates  the  boundless  uni- 
verse existing  in  the  divine  spirit,  he  cannot  give  his  heart 
to  iniquity." 

The  object  of  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  after 
death,  according  to  the  ancient  religion  of  Egypt, 
seems   to  have   been   development.      It  was   not 


180  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

punishment,  as  in  Brahmanism,  nor  purification, 
as  in  some  other  systems.  The  soul,  it  is  taught, 
must  go  through  the  round  of  animal  existence, 
apparently  to  complete  its  entire  education.  It 
must  be  in  sympathy  with  the  Divine  Mind  in  his 
whole  work  of  creation.  It  must  reach  that  state 
of  which  Wordsworth  speaks  when  he  says  that  — 

"  To  me  the  smallest  flower  that  blows  can  jjive 
Thoughts  which  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears." 

And  of  which  Coleridge  speaks  when  he  tells  us — 

"  He  prayeth  best,  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small, 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us. 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 

In  the  first  rank  among  the  sacred  books  of 
Egypt  is  the  "  Ritual  of  the  Dead,"  or  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  passage  of  the  soul  after  death  into  the 
presence  of  the  judge  Osiris.  A  copy  of  it  either 
at  full  length  or  abridged  was  deposited  in  each 
mummy-case.  Many  parts  were  of  the  highest 
antiquity. 

It  opens  with  a  grand  dialogue  which  takes 
place  when  the  soul  leaves  the  body.  The  de- 
ceased addresses  the  God  of  Hades,  and  asks  for 
admission  to  his  realm.  Finally  Osiris  says,  "  Fear 
nothing,  but  cross  the  threshold." 

Then  the  soul  enters  the  subterranean  region, 
and  is  dazzled  by  the  glory  of  the  sun,  brighter 
than  noon.     He  sings  a  hymn  to  the  sun  and  goes 


THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  TRANSMIGRATIONS.   181 

on.  The  food  which  he  must  take  with  him  is 
knowledge.  Frightful  obstacles  are  in  his  way  • 
horrid  monsters,  servants  of  Typhon,  oppose  his 
power.  He  breaks  through  at  last,  and  sings  an- 
other hymn  of  triumph. 

Next  comes  a  period  of  rest  and  refreshment. 
The  Goddess  Nu  gives  him  water,  and  at  last  he 
reaches  the  first  gate  of  Heaven.  Then  there  is  a 
dialogue  between  the  soul  and  the  divine  light, 
who  instructs  him  in  all  the  sublimest  mysteries  of 
nature. 

Having  passed  the  gate,  he  is  transformed  into 
different  animals  and  plants,  as  a  hawk,  an  eagle, 
a  lotus,  a  heron,  a  serpent,  and  a  crocodile. 

After  this  the  soul  is  reunited  to  its  body,  for 
which  careful  embalment  was  so  important.  He 
reaches  the  bank  of  the  subterranean  river,  the 
Egyptian  Styx.  A  false  boatman  attempts  to  de- 
ceive him,  and  induce  him  to  go  the  wrong  way. 
At  last  he  meets  the  right  boat,  but  before  he  can 
enter  he  passes  a  sort  of  competitive  examination 
to  see  if  he  have  the  right  sort  and  amount  of 
knowledge,  the  different  parts  of  the  boat  speaking 
to  him  and  asking  their  names.  The  rudder  says : 
"  What  is  my  name  ?  "  He  replies,  "  The  enemy 
of  Apis."  The  rope  asks  the  same,  and  so  on  for 
twenty- three  questions  and  answers. 

So  he  enters  the  boat,  crosses  the  river  and  ar- 
rives at  the  Elysian  fields.     Conducted  by  Anubis, 


182  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

he  goes  through  a  difficult  labyrinth,  and  enters 
the  judgment  hall  of  Osiris,  where  the  decisive 
judgment  is  to  be  passed,  according  to  his  earthly 
character  and  conduct.  Each  of  the  forty-two 
judges  questions  him  in  turn,  and  he  must  give  an 
account  of  his  whole  life.  "  I  have  not  blas- 
phemed," he  says.  "  I  have  not  stolen,  I  have  not 
been  cruel,  not  stirred  up  strife,  not  been  idle,  not 
been  a  drunkard,  shown  no  improper  curiosity, 
disclosed  no  man's  secrets,  slandered  no  one,  not 
envied  others,  nor  calumniated  a  slave  to  his 
master." 

Then  he  gives  an  account  of  his  positive  good 
works,  among  which  are  :  "  I  have  given  food  to 
the  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty,  and  clothes  to 
the  naked." 

Being  justified  by  Osiris,  the  deceased  man  en- 
ters heaven.  Then  comes  a  third  book,  containinjr 
a  mythical  description  of  the  higher  world  and  life 
in  heaven. 

§  7.  Transmigration  among  the  Buddhists. 

The  'Buddhists  seem  to  have  taken  their  doc- 
trine of  transmigration  directly  from  the  Brah- 
mans,  but  have  developed  it  according  to  their  own 
theory.  This  theory  is  that  by  a  natural  conse- 
quence the  soul  that  does  right  goes  up,  and  the 
soul  which  does  wrong  goes  down.  Wrong-doing 
in  the  present  life  is  the  effect  and  continuation  of 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       183 

wrong-doing  in  a  former  state.  The  total  result  of 
wrong-doing,  and  its  consequence,  perpetual  sor- 
row and  perpetual  change,  is  called  Sansara;  the 
state  of  peace  and  rest  opposed  to  this  is  Nirvana. 
He  who  is  not  in  Nirvana  is  in  Sansara,  says  the 
old  doctrine. 

In  Sansara  there  is  nothing  true  or  real,  noth- 
ing fixed  and  lasting,  but  only  change  and  decep- 
tion. All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit ;  life  is 
uneasy  and  empty.  All  things  revolve  in  a  circle, 
without  meaning  or  purpose.  Birth  leads  to  death, 
youth  to  age ;  grace  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  vain. 
This  emptiness  of  existence  here  below  is  the  per- 
petual theme  of  the  Buddhist  teachers. 

What,  then,  is  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration, and  how  far  does  it  go  ? 

St.  Hilaire  replies  that  it  goes  as  far  as  possible ; 
everj^thing  migrates  below  the  Buddha  down  to 
inert  matter;  and  this  also  was  taught  in  the 
Sankya  philosophy  in  which  Buddhism  originated. 

The  Buddha  himself  migrated  many  times. 
Hardy  tells  us  that  he  was  born  as  an  ascetic 
eighty-three  times,  as  a  monarch  fifty-eight  times, 
as  the  soul  of  a  tree  forty-three  times,  and  many 
times  also  as  ape,  deer,  lion,  snipe,  chicken,  eagle, 
serpent,  pig,  frog,  and  so  forth,  being  born  four 
hnndred  times  in  all.  According  to  a  Chinese  au- 
thority he  is  made  to  say,  "  The  number  of  my 
births  and  deaths  can  only  be  compared  to  those 
of  all  the  plants  in  the  universe." 


184  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

The  Buddhists  believe,  therefore,  in  hereditary 
depravity,  and  that  this  is  the  chief  source  of 
transmigration.  Buddha  is  reported  to  have  said 
that  a  man  who  has  hved  a  good  life  here  may  yet 
be  punished  after  death  by  being  sent  down  into  a 
lower  form  because  he  has  not  atoned  for  evil  com- 
mitted in  a  former  state.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
person  who  has  done  wrong  here  may  go  up  here- 
after, not  yet  having  exhausted  the  power  of  good 
actions  done  in  a  former  state  of  existence. 

Karma,  or  the  law  of  merit  and  demerit,  gov- 
erns all  existence.  It  is  the  reason  for  the  varie- 
ties in  human  fortunes,  for  differences  of  condition 
and  character.  Thus  it  is  shown  that  all  things 
depend  on  Karma,  and  that  perfect  justice  presides 
over  the  universe.  As  a  man  sows,  so  he  reaps, 
or  shall  reap  hereafter.  As  he  has  sowed  in  for- 
mer states  of  existence  so  he  reaps  in  this  world. 

It  is  also  a  doctrine  of  this  system  that  the  law 
of  merit  is  more  powerful  than  that  of  demerit ; 
that  is,  that  the  consequences  of  doing  right  are 
much  more  extensive  than  those  of  doing  wrong. 
This  they  admit  is  contrary  to  appearances,  for 
evil  seems  to  prevail  over  good,  and  punishment 
comes  much  sooner  than  reward.  But  they  an- 
swer that  the  best  things  ripen  most  slowly ;  as 
the  chicken  is  able  to  get  its  food  as  soon  as  it 
chips  its  shell,  but  a  human  child  is  helpless  for 
many  months.    Moreover  they  say  merit  increases, 


THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  TRANSMIGRATIONS.    185 

because  it  is  in  harmony  with  all  truth ;  but  de- 
merit decreases,  for  all  things  oppose  it. 

§  8.  Foundation  of  the  Belief  in  Transmigration. 

Such  a  widespread  belief  as  this  of  transmigra- 
tion must  rest  on  some  reasonable  foundation  ;  we 
can  hardly  believe  that  it  is  unmixed  error.  What 
basis  of  probability  can  be  found  in  it  ? 

Many  of  the  reasons  for  believing  that  man  has 
a  soul,  which  can  exist  independently  of  his  body, 
would  induce  the  conviction  that  animals  have 
souls  of  a  similar  character,  though  in  a  lower 
state  of  development.  Animals  can  think,  feel, 
will,  remember,  imagine,  reason,  love,  just  as  man 
does.  Beside  what  we  call  instinct  in  animals, 
there  is  distinctly  present  the  power  of  reflection, 
of  adapting  means  to  ends,  of  meeting  new  exi- 
gencies with  new  contrivances.  What  love,  what 
devotion,  what  fidelity  there  is  in  the  dog !  The 
elephants  in  Ceylon  are  taught  to  build  stone 
walls,  and  an  elephant  will  bring  a  stone,  lay  it  in 
its  place,  push  it  with  his  trunk  until  it  is  plumb, 
just  as  a  mason  would  do.  I  have  seen  in  my  own 
horse  unmistakable  evidence  of  pride  and  shame, 
the  sense  of  fun,  the  memory  of.  Sunday  when  it 
came,  and,  above  all,  the  sense  of  the  supernat- 
ural. He  was  once  put  into  a  tip-cart  to  draw 
w^ater,  and  he  evidently  felt  degraded  by  that  oc- 
cupation.   He  hung  his  head  and  looked  so  mourn- 


186  TEIS"    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

f  ul  that  we  had  him  at  once  taken  out  of  the  cart. 
I  often  tried  his  memory  by  laying  the  reins  on 
his  back  and  letting  him  choose  which  way  to 
go.  On  Sunday  he  would  turn  to  the  right,  going 
out  of  the  gate,  and  take  every  turn  correctly  till 
he  reached  the  church  in  Boston.  On  other  days 
he  invariably  turned  to  the  left,  and  went  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  the  village.  Once,  when  driv- 
ing him  on  the  road  near  my  house,  we  met,  com- 
ing down  the  hill  toward  us,  a  horse-car  which  had 
been  allowed  to  run  down  without  horses,  simply 
by  the  power  of  gravitation.  My  horse  was  dread- 
fully alarmed  at  this  phenomenon,  which  seemed 
to  him  a  sort  of  miracle,  and  he  very  nearly  over- 
turned me  in  the  gutter.  To  see  the  car  coming 
without  horses  to  draw  it,  frightened  him.  It  was 
an  effect  produced  without  any  visible  cause.  He 
felt  as  a  man  would  if  he  should  see  his  dining- 
table  suddenly  float  up  to  the  top  of  the  room. 

Observing  in  animals  so  many  elements  in  com- 
mon with  man,  and  seeing  man  with  so  many  traits 
which  are  very  marked  in  animals,  it  was  natural 
to  suppose  that  the  human  soul  has  passed  through 
these  lower  forms  of  animal  life.  One  man  is  cun- 
ning like  a  fox,  another  has  the  qualities  of  a  good, 
honest  Newfoundland  dog,  another  the  stealthy 
ways  of  a  cat,  and  so  on.  We  say,  "  She  is  as 
proud  as  a  peacock,"  "  Sly  as  a  snake."  Some 
men  are  like  tigers  in  ferocity,  others  like  sheep 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       187 

in  blindly  following  their  leaders ;  others,  again, 
like  the  hog,  the  parrot,  the  vulture,  the  monkey. 
Seeing  such  traits,  it  was  not  a  very  absurd  theory 
to  suppose  that  the  mind  of  man  had  reached  its 
present  state  of  development  by  passing  through 
these  lower  forms.  It  was  also  natural  to  believe 
that  souls  which  had  misused  their  opportunities 
might  have  to  go  back  and  pass  through  their  pre- 
liminary exercises  again ;  also,  that  one  who  had 
behaved  like  a  hog,  or  a  fox,  or  a  tiger  while  he 
was  a  man  might  be  fitly  punished  by  being  made 
to  pass  into  those  bodies  after  death.  Transmigra- 
tion, therefore,  was  for  development  and  for  retri- 
bution* 

§  9.  Human  traits  in  primitive  organisms. 

I  was  once  w^alking  in  the  British  Museum 
through  the  rooms  which  contain,  in  a  systematic 
and  progressive  arrangement,  specimens  of  the 
classes,  orders,  and  genera  of  animal  life;  and  I 
became  quite  interested  in  imagining  the  transmi- 
gration of  a  soul  passing  up  through  this  long  se- 
ries of  bodily  organizations.  In  the  room  of  the 
Radiata  I  imagined  the  soul  to  have  once  inhabited 
a  star-fish,  and  by  stretching  out  in  every  direction 
to  have  learned  the  existence  of  an  outward  world. 
As  a  mollusk,  rolled  up  in  a  shell,  I  supposed  the 
soul  occupied  in  digesting  these  experiences,  and 
becoming  acquainted  with  itself.     As  a   fish   the 


188  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

soul  learned  the  joy  of  easy  motion,  supported  on 
all  sides  by  the  buoyant  but  yielding  element. 
Alacrity,  vivacity,  the  energy  to  act  is  developed 
in  some  forms  of  insect  life.  In  bivalves  the  soul 
may  have  learned  how  to  grasp  and  hold.  The 
crocodiles,  all  mouth,  give  us  the  devouring  el- 
ement, that  rapacity,  that  irresistible  appetite, 
which  may  have  any  and  all  things  for  its  object. 
Who  knows  but  that  the  insatiate  appetite  for 
knowledge  in  a  Casaubon  or  Scaliger  may  have 
been  cultivated  when,  in  some  previous  state  of 
existence,  they  roamed  about  as  sharks.  The  form 
of  birds  with  all  their  varied  attitudes  and  quick 
bright  expression,  seemed  to  represent  the  airy, 
ready,  quick  perception,  the  rapid  analysis,  which 
can  penetrate  the  entanglements  of  life,  as  a  bird 
darts  through  the  bushes. 

Animals,  as  we  have  seen,  can  reason,  remem- 
ber, imagine  ;  they  have  conscience  and  are  capa- 
ble of  the  feeling  of  wrong-doing  ;  they  have  the 
love  of  approbation  and  are  pleased  with  praise ; 
contrivance,  and  can  adapt  means  to  ends  ;  pride, 
which  can  be  wounded ;  a  sense  of  reverence  for 
man,  as  a  higher  power,  in  which  is  the  germ  of 
religion ;  and  a  sense  of  the  supernatural.  If  the 
animal  soul  has  these  faculties,  wherein,  it  may  be 
asked,  does  it  differ  from  the  human.  How  far 
has  the  human  soul  gone  above  it  ? 

Many  distinctions   have  been   pointed   out  be- 


THE  SOUL  AND  ITS  TRANSMIGRATIONS.   189 

tween  men  and  animals.  The  human  hand  has 
been  said  to  make  an  essential  physiological  dis- 
tinction between  man  and  all  the  animals.  The 
perfection  of  its  structure  consists  in  the  size  and 
streno;th  of  the  thumb,  which  can  be  brouo-ht  into 
exact  and  powerful  opposition  to  the  extremities  of 
the  fingers,  each  of  which  is  also  separately  mov- 
able. This  enables  the  human  hand  to  perform 
with  dexterity  a  variety  of  movements,  of  which 
the  highest  order  of  monkeys  is  incapable. 

Another  distinction  between  man  and  animals  is 
in  the  human  power  of  using  articulate  speech  and 
verba]  lang-uao-e.  Animals  have  no  verbal  Ian- 
guage  ;  if  they  had  we  could  learn  it  and  talk 
with  them. 

The  real  and  chief  distinction  between  the  soul 
of  all  other  animals  and  that  of  man,  is,  that  the 
human  soul  is  capable  of  conceiving  abstract  ideas, 
and  the  animal  has  no  such  power.  The  dog  can 
understand  a  general  or  generic  name,  but  not  an 
abstract  name.  Tell  him  to  go  and  get  an  apple, 
he  understands  you  ;  but  not  if  you  speak  of  truth, 
beauty,  justice,  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil, 
cause  and  effect.  He  is  incapable  of  adopting  an 
aim  apart  from  wdiat  is  given  in  his  organization. 
Man  can  say  :  "  It  shall  be  the  object  of  my  life  to 
attain  knowledge,  to  form  my  character,  to  obtain 
rank,  fame,  fortune,  popularity,  to  please  God,  to 
serve  my  fellow-creatures."     There  is  no  evidence 


190  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

that  any  animal  can  thus  adopt  an  abstract  idea  as 
his  purpose  in  life,  and  pursue  it.  This  power  gives 
man  his  immense  superiority  over  all  other  crea- 
tures, and  makes  him  capable  of  high  moral  and 
intellectual  development. 

§  10.  The  Evolution  of  the  /Soul,  as  an  improvement  on 
the  doctrine  of  Dartvin. 

That  man  has  come  up  to  his  present  state  of 
development  by  passing  through  lower  forms  is 
the  popular  doctrine  of  science  to-day.  Wliat  is 
called  evolution  teaches  that  we  have  reached  our 
present  state  by  a  very  long  and  gradual  ascent 
from  the  lowest  animal  organizations.  It  is  true 
that  the  Darwinian  theory  takes  no  notice  of  the 
evolution  of  the  soul,  but  only  of  the  body.  But 
it  appears  to  me  that  a  combination  of  the  two 
views  would  remove  many  difficulties  which  still 
attach  to  the  theory  of  natural  selection  and  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  If  we  are  to  believe  in  evo- 
lution, let  us  have  the  assistance  of  the  soul  itself 
in  this  development  of  new  species. 

"  For  of  the  soul  the  body  form  doth  take: 
For  soul  is  form,  and  doth  the  body  make." 

Thus  science  and  philosophy  will  cooperate,  nor 
will  poetry  hesitate  to  lend  her  aid.  For  have  not 
two  great  poets  in  our  time  intimated  their  belief 
in  some  such  law  of  preexistence  and  transmigra- 
tion ?     Wordsworth  long  ago  declared  that  — 


THE    SOUL    AND    ITS    TRANSMIGRATIONS.       191 

"  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 
The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star. 
Has  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 
And  cometh  from  afar." 

And  Tennyson  also  suggests,  — 

"  For  how  should  I  for  certain  hold, 
Because  my  memory  is  so  cold. 
That  1  first  was  in  human  mould  ? 

"  It  may  be  that  no  life  is  found, 
Which  only  to  one  engine  bound 
Falls  off,  but  cycles  always  round. 

"  But,  if  I  lapsed  from  nobler  place, 
Some  legend  of  a  fallen  race 
Alone  might  hint  of  my  disgrace. 

"  Or  if  thro'  lower  lives  I  came  — 
Tho'  all  experience  past  became 
Consolidate  in  mind  and  frame  — 

"  I  might  foi-get  my  weaker  lot; 
For  is  not  our  first  year  forgot  ? 
The  haunts  of  memory  echo  not. 

"  Moreover,  something  is  or  seems. 
That  touches  me  with  mystic  gleams, 
Like  glimpses  of  forgotten  dreams  — 

"  Of  something  felt,  like  something  here; 
Of  something  done,  I  know  not  where; 
Such  as  no  language  may  declare." 

It  would  be  curious  if  we  should  find  science  and 
philosophy  taking  up  again  this  old  theory  of  me- 
tempsychosis, remodeling  it  to  suit   our   present 


192  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

modes  of  religious  and  scientific  thought,  and 
launching  it  again  on  the  wide  ocean  of  human  be- 
lief. But  stranger  things  have  happened  in  the 
history  of  human  opinion. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE   WORLD.  193 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD  ;    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS. 
EVOLUTION,    EMANATION,   AND    CREATION. 

§  1.  Diffei-ent  theories  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Cosmos. 
All  races  of  men  believe  it  had  a  beginning,  and  has  not  ex- 
isted always.  The  primeval  chaos.  §  2.  Doctrine  of  Evolu- 
tion. Its  antiquity.  The  World-egg.  Orphic  poets.  Laws 
of  Manu,  Aristophanes.  Hesiod.  Ovid.  American  Indians. 
Eddas.  The  Polynesian  theology.  §  3.  Doctrine  of  Emana- 
tion. Source  of  this  view.  The  Vedas.  The  Gnostics. 
Their  problem.  §  4.  Doctrine  of  Creation.  Different  forms 
of  this  doctrine.  The  Hebrew  Bible,  the  Zend-Avesta,  the 
Assyrian  tablets,  the  philosophers.  Objection  to  the  doctrine 
of  Creation  by  modern  thinkers.  §  5.  Darwin  and  Natural 
Selection.  §  6.  Theory  of  Creation  by  beings  above  man, 
but  below  God.  This  theory  would  harmonize  the  doctrines 
of  Evqlution,  Emanation,  and  Creation. 

§  1.  Different  theories  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Cosmos. 
All  races  of  men  believe  it  had  a  beginning,  and  has  riot 
existed  always.     The  primeval  chaos. 

~\TTE  all  recollect  the  old  gentleman  in  the 
"  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  who  astonished  Dr. 
Primrose  by  his  profound  learning  in  regard  to  the 
origin  of  the  universe.  "The  cosmogony,  or  crea- 
tion of  the  world,"  said  he,  "has  puzzled  philoso- 

13 


194  TEIT   GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

phers  of  all  ages.  Sanconiathon,  Manetho,  Bero- 
sus,  and  Ocellus  Lucanus  have  all  attempted  it  in 
vain."  This  venerable  man,  with  his  jargon  about 
cosmogony,  turned  out  in  the  end  to  be  a  venera- 
ble humbug.  But  notwithstanding  this  warning, 
we  are  obliged  to  follow  his  steps  and  show  how 
largely  the  origin  of  the  world  has  occupied  the 
human  mind. 

All  possible  theories  about  the  origin  of  the  uni- 
verse may  be  reduced  to  these  :  — 

1.  It  had  no  origin,  but  has  always  existed  as  it 
is  now,  a  Cosmos  of  order. 

2.  It  came  by  a  process  of  evolution. 

3.  It  came  by  a  process  of  emanation. 

4.  It  was  created  by  some  intelligent  Being. 
The  first  of  these  theories,  that  the  world  has 

always  been  as  it  is  now,  has  never  been  the  belief 
of  mankind.  All  races  of  men,  in  all  times,  have 
agreed  in  a  remarkable  way  in  assuming  a  begin- 
ning of  the  universe,  and  a  gradual  process  of  de- 
velopment or  of  creation.  We  may  add  that  these 
different  theories  commonly  suppose  the  world  at 
first  to  have  been  in  a  chaotic  state.  Chaos  was 
first  in  almost  every  system. 

One  is  much  struck  by  this  fact,  which  reap- 
pears continually  in  the  most  opposite  quarters. 
"We  recollect  how  the  account  of  the  creation  be- 
gins in  the  Book  of  Genesis  :  "  The  earth  was 
without  form,  and  void^  and  darkness  was  on  the 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD.  195 

face  of  the  deep."  Hesiod,  the  theologian  of  Greek 
thought,  says :  "  In  the  beginning  was  chaos." 
The  tenth  book  of  the  Rig- Veda,  eleventh  chapter, 
says :  "  Then  there  was  neither  nothing,  nor  some- 
thing ;  no  world,  no  sky  ;  nothing  involving,  noth- 
ing involved ;  no  water,  no  death  nor  life ;  only 
One  alone  breathing  calmly  with  nature.  The  uni- 
verse was  shrouded  in  darkness,  a  mass  of  indis- 
tinguishable waters." 

So  the  Laws  of  Manu  say :  "  The  universe  ex- 
isted in  darkness,  imperceptible,  undefinable,  as  if 
immersed  in  sleep." 

The  Phoenicians  said :  "  The  beginning  of  all 
things  was  a  dark,  condensed  air,  a  chaos  turbid 
and  black." 

The  Scandinavian  Edda  says  the  same,  making 
all  things  begin  in  darkness  and  unformed  matter. 
We  also  find  this  doctrine  of  chaos  in  the  myths 
of  America  and  Polynesia.^ 

It  is  an  unquestionable  fact,  and  a  very  curious 
one,  that  the  human  race  should  thus  have  held 

1  The  Quiches  said:  "There  were  neither  men  nor  brutes;  neither 
birds,  fish,  crabs,  sticks,  nor  stones;  valley  nor  mountain;  stubble 
nor  forest;  nothing  but  the  sky.  The  face  of  the  land  was  hidden. 
There  was  naught  but  the  silent  sea  and  sky.  There  was  nothing 
joined,  nor  any  sound,  nor  anything  that  stirred;  .  .  .  nothing  but. 
stillness,  and  rest,  and  darkness,  and  night." 

So,  t6o,  the  picture-writing  of  the  Aztecs  says:  "In  the  year  and 
day  of  clouds,  before  years  and  days,  the  world  lay  in  darkness;  all 
things  were  without  order;  a  water  covered  the  slime  and  the  ooze." 
See  Briuton:  ''Mijths  of  the  New  World." 


196  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

to  a  beginning.  They  never  seem  to  have  thought 
for  a  moment  that  things  have  always  been  as 
they  are  now.  They  have  beUeved  in  the  exist- 
ence at  first  of  formless  matter  which  afterward 
took  form  under  the  influence  of  some  superhu- 
man intelligence.  Every  religion  and  every  my- 
thology has  held  to  the  same  formula,  "  From 
Chaos  to  Cosmos." 

This  belief  of  the  earliest  races  was  a  dim  proph- 
ecy of  what  modern  science  has  revealed  as  the 
actual  fact.  Geology  turns  over  the  stone  leaves 
of  the  planet,  and  shows  how  our  present  order 
emerged  from  vast  cataclysms  and  catastrophes, 
from  epochs  when  the  globe  was  a  mass  of  fire,  or 
submero^ed  below  the  waters,  or  covered  with  an 
armor  of  ice.  Finally,  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
once  more  teaches  that  all  began  in  chaos,  in  a 
homogeneous  nebula,  without  form,  and  void. 

§  2.  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  Its  antiquity/.  TJie  World- 
egg.  Orphic  poets.  Laws  of  Manu.  Aristoijhanes. 
Eesiod.  Ovid.  American  Indians.  Eddas.  The 
Polynesian  theology. 

The  doctrine  of  evolution  is  not,  therefore,  a 
recent  discovery,  but  is  found  among  most  of  the 
primitive  races  and  in  many  ancient  religions,  often 
indeed  combined  with  that  of  creation.  It  is  sug- 
gested most  naturally  to  the  childlike  races  by  the 
phenomena  of  the  seed  and  egg.     They  see  the 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD.  197 

seed  under  telluric  and  atmospheric  influences  de- 
veloping into  plant  and  root,  j)i'oclucing  flower, 
and  fruit,  and  seed  again,  by  a  cycle  of  perpetual 
change.  In  all  this  there  is  nothing  abrupt,  but 
regular  growth.  There  is  no  visible  interference 
of  any  Creator  from  without ;  all  steadily  unfolds 
by  some  mysterious  principle  of  life  within.  This 
is  the  law  for  the  world  of  living  things,  the  whole 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdom.  Consequently  the 
origin  of  the  world  by  evolution  has  been  a  very 
common  belief.  The  notion  of  a  world-egg  or 
world-seed,  from  which  all  things  have  come  by  a 
process  of  development,  and  this  often  connected 
with  a  Creator,  is  to  be  seen  among  many  races. 

The  Orphic  writings  have  a  cosmogony  in  which 
time  is  the  first  principle  of  things.  From  time 
came  chaos  and  ether.  From  these  were  formed 
the  primitive  egg,  from  which  issued  Phanes,  or 
manifestation. 

In  the  account  of  creation  given  in  the  "  Laws 
of  Manu,"  the  ideas  of  creation,  emanation,  and 
evolution  are  united.  The  following  extracts  are 
from  the  first  book  :  — 

"  The  universe  existed  in  darkness,  —  imperceptible, 
undefinable,  undiscoverable,  and  undiscovered,  —  as  if 
immersed  in  sleep. 

•'  Then  the  self-existing  Power,  undiscoverable  himself, 
but  making  the  world  discoverable,  with  the  five  elements 
and  other  principles,  appeared  in  undiminished  glory,  dis- 
pelling the  gloom. 


198  TEN"   GREAT    RELIGION'S. 

"  He  whom  the  mind  alone  can  perceive,  whose  essence 
ekides  the  external  organs,  who  has  no  parts,  who  exists 
from  eternity ;  even  he,  the  soul  of  all  beings,  shone 
forth. 

"  He,  having  willed  to  produce  various  beings  from  his 
own  divine  substance,  first  with  a  thought  created  the 
waters  and  placed  in  them  a  productive  seed. 

"  The  seed  became  an  egg,  bright  as  gold,  blazing  like 
a  luminary  with  a  thousand  beams,  and  in  that  egg  he 
himself  was  born  as  Brahma,  the  Father  of  all  Spirits. 

"  In  that  egg  sat  the  great  power,  inactive  for  a  whole 
year  of  the  creator,  at  the  close  of  which  by  a  thought  he 
caused  the  egg  to  divide  itself. 

"And  from  its  two  divisions  he  framed  the  heavens 
above  and  the  earth  below. 

"  From  the  supreme  soul  he  drew  forth  mind,  then  con- 
sciousness, an  inward  ruler. 

"  Then  pervading,  with  emanations  from  the  supreme 
spirit,  the  minutest  atoms  of  existing  things,  he  formed 
all  creatures." 

In  one  of  the  Choruses  of  Aristophanes  we  read 
this :  — 

"Dark  chaos  and  night  existed,  and  in  the  beginning 
dark  Erebus  and  Tartarus ;  but  neither  earth  nor  air, 
nor  sky  was  then.  Before  all,  in  the  infinite  circle  of 
Erebus,  the  black-winged  night  produced  an  egg,  not 
brooded  on,  whence  in  time  sprang  love,  parent  of  desire, 
beating  its  back  with  its  gilded  wings  like  the  whirl  of 
a  tempest.  Love,  joined  with  dark,  unresting  chaos,  pro- 
duced heaven,  earth,  sea,  and  the  deathless  race  of  the 
Immortal  Gods." 


THE    ORIGIX    OF   THE    WORLD.  199 

In  like  manner  Hesiod  says :  — 

"  In  the  beginning  was  chaos,  next  the  earth  with  its 
broad  bosom,  the  immovable  foundation  of  all  beings,  the 
vast  Tartarus,  in  the  depth  of  its  abyss ;  and  love,  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  Immortal  Gods." 

So  Ovid  sings :  — 

"  Before  the  sea  and  land  and  all-covering  heaven  ap- 
peared, there  was  one  aspect  over  the  whole  of  nature. 
All  was  rude,  unelaborated  —  a  mass,  which  was  called 
chaos.  It  was  inert  weight,  the  seeds  of  things  in  dis- 
order and  confusedly  intermingled  —  no  sun,  no  moon, 
no  earth  hanging  balanced  in  the  air,  no  ocean  embracing 
continents  with  its  mighty  arms.  This  conflict  of  the 
elements  God  and  benign  Nature  pacified,  distinguishing 
each  from  each,  solid  from  fluid,  earth  from  air.  Who- 
ever that  God  was,  he  distributed  all  things,  sending  each 
to  its  place." 

But  directly  after,  when  speaking  of  the  origin 
of  man,  Ovid  hesitates  whether  man  was  the  work 
of  that  divine  artificer,  or  whether  the  earth,  re- 
taining in  it  some  seeds  of  heaven,  brought  him 
forth  and  Prometheus  gave  him  form. 

An  Orphic  poet  also  deduces  all  things  from  pri- 
meval chaos  and  the  inspiration  of  love  :  — 

"  We  will  first  sing  a  delightful  song  concerning  the 
ancient  chaos  ;  how  heaven,  earth,  and  seas  were  framed 
out  of  it,  as  also  concerning  that  much-wise  and  sagacious 
love,  oldest  of  all  and  self-perfect,  which  produced  all 
these  things,  separating  one  from  another." 


200  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

The  idea  of  the  evolution  of  all  living  creatures 
out  of  the  earth  appears  in  the  often-repeated 
phrase,  "  Mother  Earth,"  which  is  found  in  many 
ancient  writers,  ^schylus  makes  Prometheus 
call,  "  0  divine  gether,  and  ye  many- winged  blasts, 
ye  fountains  of  the  rivers,  thou  multitudinous 
smile  of  the  ocean,  and  thou  earth,  the  universal 
mother,  I  call  on  you  all ! "  So  the  Comanche 
Indians  call  on  the  earth  as  their  mother,  and  the 
Great  Spirit  as  their  father.  The  Mexicans  called 
the  sun  and  earth  "  the  father  and  mother  of  us 
all." 

The  Indians  of  Guatemala,  the  Quiches,  who 
are  very  rich  in  their  mythology,  had  this  account 
of  creation,  singularly  like  those  we  have  been 
considering.  It  almost  reads  like  a  translation  of 
Ovid,  and  yet  is  given  by  Bancroft  ^  in  the  origi- 
nal Quiche  language  :  ^  — 

"  The  heaven  Avas  formed,  and  its  boundaries  fixed 
toward  the  four  winds  by  the  Creator  and  Former,  — the 
Mother  and  Father  of  all  living  things,  —  he  by  whom 
all  move,  the  father  and  cherislier  of  the  peace  of  men, 
whose  wisdom  has  planned  all  things." 

"  There  was  as  yet  no  man,  nor  any  animal,  nor  bird, 
nor  fish,  nor  green  herb,  nor  any  tree.  The  face  of  the 
earth  was  not  yet  seen,  only  the  peaceful  sea  and  the 
space  of  heaven.     Nothing  was  joined  together,  nothing 

1  Native  Races. 

2  This  differs  a  little  from  the  translation  from  Ximenes,  by  Brin- 
ton,  given  in  a  previous  note. 


THE    OEIGIN    OF    THE   WORLD.  201 

clung  to  aiiytliing  else,  nothing  balanced  itself,  there  was 
no  sound.  Nothing  existed  but  the  sea,  calm  and  alone, 
immobility  and  silence,  darkness  and  night. 

"Alone  was  the  Creator,  the  former,  and  the  feathered 
serpent,  enveloped  in  green  and  blue,  their  name  Gu-cu- 
matz,  or  Feathered  Serpent.  They  are  the  heart  of 
heaven.  They  spake  together  and  consulted,  mingling 
their  thoughts.  They  said  '  Earth,'  and  earth  came,  like 
a  cloud  or  fog.  Then  the  mountains  arose,  and  the  trees 
appeared,  and  Gu-cu-matz  was  filled  with  joy,  saying, 
'  Blessed  be  thy  coming,  O  Heart  of  Heaven  !  our  work 
is  done  ! '  " 

There  is  much  more,  but  this  is  a  specimen. 

Cross  the  Atlantic,  and  return  to  Europe,  and 
visit  the  Scandinavian  peninsula.  There,  a  thou- 
sand years  ago,  the  Eddas,  sacred  books  of  the  Teu- 
tonic race,  thus  described  the  origin  of  things  :  — 

"  In  the  day-spring  of  the  ages  there  was  neither  sea, 
nor  shore,  nor  refreshing  breeze,  neither  earth  below  nor 
heaven  above,  but  one  vast  abyss.  Then  arose  a  shining 
world  of  flame  in  the  South,  and  another,  cloudy  and 
dark,  in  the  North.  Torrents  of  venom  flowed  from  the 
North  into  the  abyss,  and  filled  it  with  ice.  But  from 
the  South  a  warm  breath  came,  and  melted  it  into  living 
drops,  from  whence  came  the  giant  Yimer,  and  afterward 
from  these  drops,  as  from  seeds,  came  the  Mundane  cow, 
and  Ror,  the  father  of  Odin,  who  made  heaven  and  earth 
from  the  body  of  the  giant  Yimer,  and  then  created  a 
man  and  woman.  Ask  and  Embla.  Chaos  having  disap- 
peared, Odin  became  the  All  Father,  maker  of  gods  and 
men,  having  Hertha,  the  earth,  for  his  wife." 


202  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

This  is  creation  by  evolution,  with  a  grain  of 
theism  in  it. 

In  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  a  curious  series  of 
myths  exist,  belonging  to  this  circle  of  thought. 
According  to  this  Polynesian  theology,  all  things 
began  at  a  single  immovable  point,  which  they  call 
"  the  root  of  all  existence."  There  are  three 
worlds  :  the  highest  the  abode  of  spirits,  divided 
into  seven  heavens,  above  the  circuit  of  the  sun 
and  moon.  The  second  world  consists  of  the  isl- 
ands where  the  Polynesians  live.  Each  island  has 
its  spirit  or  essence,  called  "  The  Well  Poised."  It 
is  surrounded  by  the  ocean,  the  name  of  which  is 
"  The  vast  outspread  plantain  leaf."  The  third 
world  is  below  the  island,  and  is  called  a-via-ki. 
This  under-world  is  hollow,  like  the  inside  shell  of 
a  cocoa-nut.  Beneath  its  lowest  rea;ion  is  a  thick 
stem,  tapering  down  to  a  point  which  supports 
everything,  and  is  called  "  the  root-of-all  exist- 
ence." This  point  supports  the  universe ;  and 
from  this,  by  a  peculiar  process  of  development, 
all  existence  has  proceeded.  This  point,  though 
stationary,  has  a  kind  of  demonic  life.  From  it 
we  rise  to  a  second  point  or  demon,  in  the  stem, 
called  "  breathing,"  or  "  life."  Above  this  demon 
of  sentient  life  resides  a  third,  still  fixed  forever 
in  the  basis  of  all  things,  and  called  "  The  long- 
lived,"  or  perhaps  "  Time."  Above  him,  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  under-world,  lives  "  the  great  mother." 


THE    ORIGIN"    OF   THE    WORLD.  203 

She  made  the  first  man,  and,  being  apparently 
pleased  with  the  result,  repeated  the  experiment 
till  she  had  created  five  more,  all  residing  in  dif- 
ferent spheres  of  the  vast  under- world.  The  upper 
floor,  inhabited  by  Avatea,  communicates  with  the 
upper-world  by  two  apertures  on  the  east  and  west, 
through  which  the  sun  and  moon  come  up  and  go 
down  at  their  rising  and  setting.  Below  "the 
Thin-land,"  the  home  of  Avatea,  who  became  the 
father  of  gods  and  men,  is  a  second  place,  belong- 
ing to  a  second  son,  named  "  The  innumerable,"  a 
sea-god,  the  father  and  maker  of  all  fishes. 

Further  down  in  the  hollow  cocoa-nut  under- 
world is  the  residence  of  the  bird-god,  the  author 
of  that  which  inhabits  the  air.  A  fourth  child  of 
the  great  mother  is  Echo,  who  inhabits  a  region  of 
hollow  rocks.  Lower  still  is  the  home  of  the  god- 
dess Raka,  or  Trouble,  who  rules  the  winds,  and 
keeps  the  storms  shut  up  in  a  basket,  till  she  sees 
fit  to  set  them  free.  Lowest  of  all,  by  the  side  of 
the  great  mother,  is  her  sixth  child,  called  "  Stick- 
by-her-Parent,"  living  with  her  in  the  "  Land  of 
Silence,"  where  no  voice  is  heard. 

According  to  this  remarkably  elaborate  system 
(only  a  part  of  which  I  have  here  related),  all  ex- 
istence begins  with  one  unchanging  point  or  sub- 
stance of  being,  then  passes  into  the  stage  of  pul- 
sating or  breathing  life,  then  into  everlasting  time, 
then  into  the  stage  of  production,  or  the  beginning 


204  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

of  continued  development  by  growth.  Thus  con- 
scious being  comes  up  into  the  world  of  light,  from 
the  dark,  unconscious  abyss  below. 

§  3.  Doctrine  of  Emanation.     Source  of  this  View.     The 
Vedas.     The  G-nostics.     Their  Problem. 

The  second  form  which  the  origin  of  the  world 
takes  is  that  of  Emanation.  Primitive  man  saw  in 
nature  a  tendency  to  growth ;  and,  beginning  with 
this,  some  nations  deduced  the  world  from  a  pro- 
cess of  evolution.  These  were  the  races  most  im- 
mersed in  nature.  Other  races,  with  an  opposite 
tendency  of  thought,  living  more  in  self-conscious- 
ness than  in  observation,  found  in  themselves  the 
notions  of  cause,  purpose,  plan,  choice,  will,  effort, 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  the  sense  of  spiritual 
substance,  the  ideas  of  the  infinite  and  eternal. 
AVith  these  conceptions  they  formed  their  theory 
of  the  origin  of  the  world.  They  began  at  the 
summit  and  went  down,  inferring  the  finite  from 
the  infinite.  The  other  races  bes-an  below  and 
went  up,  rising  toward  the  infinite  from  the  finite. 
The  one  began  with  the  dark  abyss  of  chaos,  and 
went  upward  to  intelligence.  The  other  began 
with  the  dark  abyss  of  infinite  being,  and  by 
means  of  a  series  of  emanations  or  fallings  away 
from  this  inconceivable  first  essence,  gradually 
reached  an  intelligent  Creator  and  an  intelligent 
creation. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF   THE    WORLD.  205 

This  system  of  emanation  appears  more  or  less 
developed  in  different  theologies,  mythologies,  and 
philosophies. 

It  is  essentially  Oriental  in  its  origin,  coming 
first  in  the  cosmogony  of  the  Hindus. 

The  Veda  thus  speaks  of  the  beginning  of 
thinocs  :^  — 

"  Nothing  then  existed,  neither  being  nor  non-being ;  no 
world,  no  air,  no  firmament.  Where  was  then  the  cover- 
ing of  the  universe  ?  Where  the  receptacle  of  the  water  ? 
Where  the  impenetrable  depths  of  air  ?  Death  was  not, 
nor  immortality,  nor  anything  that  marked  the  bounda- 
ries of  day  and  night.  But  That  breathed  in  solitude 
without  afilation,  absorbed  in  his  own  thought.  Besides 
That  nought  existed.  The  universe  was  at  first  envel- 
oped in  darkness ;  the  water  was  devoid  of  movement ; 
and  everything  was  gathered  up  and  blended  together  in 
That.  The  being  reposed  on  the  bosom  of  this  void ;  and 
the  universe  was  at  last  produced  by  the  strength  of  his 
devotion.  In  the  beginning  desire  was  formed  in  his 
spirit  and  this  was  the  first  productive  principle.  It  is 
thus  that  the  wise  men,  pondering  in  their  heart,  have 
explained  the  union  of  being  and  non-being." 

Another  Vedic  hymn  thus  speaks  :  — 

"  Originally  this  universe  was  indeed  soul  only  ;  nothing 
else  whatsoever  existed,  active  or  inactive.  He  thought, 
"  I  will  create  worlds  ;  "  thus  He  created  these  various 
worlds  :  water,  light,  mortal  beings,  and  the  waters. 

"  He  thought,  '  These  are  indeed  worlds  ;  I  will  create 
guardians  of  worlds.'      Thus  He  drew  from  the  waters 

^  Rig  -  Veda,  Book  X.,  chap.  xi. 


206       ■  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

and  framed  an  embodied  being.  He  viewed  him  ;  and  of 
that  being,  so  contemplated,  the  mouth  opened  as  an  egg  ; 
from  the  mouth  speech  issued;  from  speech,  fire  pro- 
ceeded. The  nostrils  spread  ;  from  the  nostrils,  breath 
passed ;  from  breath,  air  was  propagated.  The  eyes 
opened  ;  from  the  eyes  a  glance  sprang  ;  from  that  glance 
the  sun  was  produced.  The  ears  dilated ;  from  the  ears 
came  hearkening ;  and  from  that  the  regions  of  space. 
The  skin  expanded ;  from  the  skin,  hair  rose  ;  from  that 
grew  herbs  and  trees.  The  breast  opened;  from  the 
breast  mind  issued. 

"  These  deities  being  thus  framed,  fell  into  this  vast 
ocean ;  and  to  Him  they  came  with  thirst  and  hunger ; 
and  Him  they  thus  addressed  :  '  Grant  us  a  smaller  size, 
wherein  abiding  we  may  eat  food.'  He  offered  to  them 
a  cow  ;  they  said,  '  That  is  not  sufficient  for  us.'  He  ex- 
hibited to  them  a  horse  ;  they  said,  '  Neither  is  that  suf- 
ficient for  us.'  He  showed  them  the  human  form  ;  they 
exclaimed,  '  Well  done !  ah !  wonderful ! '  " 

The  most  detailed  and  systematized  theories  of 
emanation  are  to  be  found  among  the  Gnostics. 
The  Gnostic  element  of  thought  was  in  the  air 
before  the  coming  of  Christ.  It  pervaded  Asia 
Minor,  Syria,  Egypt.  It  appears  in  the  writings 
of  Philo.  It  was  an  effort  of  the  human  reason  to 
unite  the  most  important  religions  into  one  univer- 
sal religion.  After  Christianity  began  its  career 
the  various  schools  of  Gnosticism  appeared  as 
large  and  imposing  bodies  of  religious  thinkers. 
They  sought  to  combine  Christianity  with  the  sys- 


THE    ORIGIN"    OF    THE   WORLD.  207 

tern  of  Zoroaster,  of  Moses,  and  the  Bralimanism 
and  Buddhism  of  the  East,  all  harmonized  by  the 
philosophy  of  Plato. 

These  philosophies  begin  with  the  conception  of 
God  as  the  infinite,  miknown,  unapproachable 
Spirit,  the  abyss  of  being,  from  whom  all  things 
j)roceed.  They  consider  existence  as  coming  from 
this  unfathomable  essence  by  a  series  of  emana- 
tions. 

This  doctrine  of  emanation,  of  dropping  away  of 
the  world  out  of  God,  by  successive  lapses,  is  one 
of  the  methods  of  meeting  the  great  Asiatic  j)rob- 
lem,  "  How  can  an  infinite  being  create  a  finite 
world  ?  "  Asiatic  pantheism  answered  the  question 
easily.  It  simply  said  :  "  The  finite  world  has  no 
existence.  It  is  a  mere  appearance  without  real- 
ity. Only  the  infinite  is  real."  European  materi- 
alism also  had  no  difficulty  about  this  problem.  It 
said  :  "  The  infinite  does  not  exist.  All  we  know 
is  the  finite."  But  as  the  large  majority  of  men 
believe  in  the  reality  both  of  a  finite  world  and  an 
infinite  author  of  the  world,  the  speculative  prob- 
lem became  this :  "  How  can  the  finite  proceed 
from  the  infinite  ?  "  One  of  the  attempts  to  an- 
swer this  question  was  given  by  the  doctrine  of 
emanation. 

The  most  complete  working  out,  in  a  systematic 
way,  of  this  theory,  appears  among  those  Gnostics 
who  came  into  the   Christian  Church  during  the 


208  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

second  century.  They  occupied  themselves  greatly 
with  the  problem  of  the  beginning  of  things.  One 
of  them,  Basilides,  taught  that  there  proceeded 
from  the  First  Cause  (the  Unnamed  Being)  seven 
-^ons  whom  he  called  "  Reason,"  "  The  Word," 
"  Intelligence,"  "  Wisdom,"  "  Power,"  "  Righteous- 
ness," "  Peace."  From  these  seven  there  ema- 
nated 365  heavens,  denoted  by  the  mystic  word, 
Peace.  By  seven  angels  of  the  lowest  of  the  heav- 
ens, the  world  was  made,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  God  of  the  Jews,  whom  he  called 
"  The  Ruler." 

The  system  of  Valentine  (who  died  about  160)  is 
still  more  elaborate.  With  him  the  fountain  of  all 
being  is  the  vast  Abyss,  with  whom  dwells  Silence. 
From  this  abyss  emanated  thirty  male  and  female 
^ons,  whom  Valentine  calls  the  "  First  Begotten," 
"  Wisdom,"  "  Truth,"  "  Life,"  etc.  These  thirty 
constitute  the  Pleroma,  or  fullness  of  being.  The 
lowest  of  these,  Sophia,  or  Wisdom,  passionately 
strives  to  return  to  the  infinite  source  of  all,  the 
Divine  Abyss.  From  her  longing  there  comes 
another  being,  Sophia  Achamoth,  who  wanders 
through  the  universe,  outside  of  the  Pleroma,  im- 
parting life  to  matter,  and  at  last  forming  the 
Demiurg,  by  whom  the  world  is  created.  The 
world  consists  of  three  elements :  Spirit,  which 
came  from  Sophia  Achamoth,  and  which  she  de- 
rived from  the  Pleroma ;   the  soul  of   all  things, 


THE    OEIGIX    OF   THE    WORLD.  209 

which  is  the  animating  Hfe  ;  and  the  lower  world 
of  matter.  Two  new  ^Eons  now  appear,  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  come  into  being  to  re- 
store the  harmony  of  the  Pleroma,  interrupted 
by  the  falling  from  it  of  Sophia.  From  the  Ple- 
roma, thus  enlarged,  proceeded  Jesus  the  Savior, 
who  united  himself  with  the  man  Jesus  at  his 
baptism,  in  order  to  redeem  the  world  thus  fallen 
away  from  God,  and  bring  it  back  into  a  perfect 
unity. 

These  doctrines,  strange  as  they  seem  to  us,  had 
a  wide  influence  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  form, 
as  I  have  said,  the  most  marked  example  of  the 
doctrine  of  emanation. 

§  4.  Doctrine  of  Creation.  Different  forms  of  this  doc- 
trine. Tlie  Hehreiv  Bible,  the  Zend-Avesta,  the  As- 
syrian  Tablets,  the  Philosojjhers.  Objection  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Creation  by  modern  thinkers. 

We  now  come  to  the  third  view  of  the  origin  of 
things,  namely,  creation  by  intelligent  will ;  that 
is,  by  the  deliberate  purpose  and  act  of  supernat- 
ural intelligence.  This  view  includes  several  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  creation.  According  to  the  Jewish 
view,  as  expressed  in  the  Old  Testament,  it  is  the 
creation  of  the  universe  by  the  Supreme  Being 
alone,  excluding  the  agency  of  inferior  beings. 
According  to  the  doctrine  of  Zoroaster,  as  con- 
tained in  the  Zend-Avesta  and  in  later  books,  the 

14 


210  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIOKS. 

world  was  created  by  the  Supreme  Being,  but 
through  the  agency  of  inferior  powers.  In  these 
two  ancient  relisrions,  too-ether  with  those  of  Christ 
and  Mohammed,  the  doctrine  of  a  creative  intelli- 
gence aj)pears  in  the  most  distinct  form. 

A  very  curious  discovery  was  made  by  Mr. 
George  Smith,  of  the  British  Museum,  of  Assyrian 
clay  tablets,  on  which  were  found  written  accounts 
of  the  creation,  the  fall  of  man,  the  deluge,  and 
the  tower  of  Babel,  much  resembling  those  in  the 
Book  of  Genesis. 

In  a  mound  on  the  Tigris,  opened  by  Mr.  Lay- 
ard,  were  found  thousands  of  fragments  of  tablets, 
making  a  j)art  of  the  Royal  Assyrian  Library. 
They  were  covered  with  cuneiform  inscriptions. 
Some  of  these  were  deposited  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum ;  and  Mr.  Smith,  an  accomplished  scholar, 
found  in  these  fragments  partial  accounts  of  the 
creation.  These  tablets  state  that  a  watery  chaos 
preceded  creation,  when  as  yet  there  was  not  a 
tree  nor  flower.  They  go  on  to  say  that  all  the 
great  God  made  was  beautiful ;  that  God  fixed  the 
stars  in  the  sky  in  twelve  months,  to  govern  the 
year  ;  and  the  moon  to  give  light  in  the  night  till 
the  day  dawns. 

Just  as  the  mythical  theories  have  been  those  of 
emanation  or  evolution,  so,  too,  have  the  philo- 
sophic theories.  The  German  philosophy  from 
Descartes,  Spinoza,   and   Leibnitz   down,  through 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD.  211 

Kant,  Sclielling,  and  Hegel,  begins  with  God,  or 
the  absohite,  and  endeavors  to  make  some  kind 
of  passage  to  the  relative,  or  finite.  It  assumes 
being,  and  tries  to  deduce  phenomena.  Its  idea 
of  creation  is  of  God  extending  himself  outward 
as  the  universe,  and  developing  himself  onward 
as  history.     Creation  is  the  unfolding  of  God. 

On  the  other  side,  we  have  the  English  school 
of  philosophy,  which  has  usually  tended  toward 
materialism.  It  begins  with  the  outward  world, 
and  often  fails  of  finding  the  Creator.  The  best 
representative  of  this  school  is  Herbert  Spencer, 
who  distinctly  declares  the  impossibility  of  think- 
ing creation.  He  tells  us  in  the  "  First  Principles  " 
that  the  doctrine  of  creation  assumes  that  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  were  created  as  a  workman 
shapes  a  piece  of  furniture.  He  says  that "  Equally 
in  the  writino-s  of  Plato  and  of  livino;  men  of  sci- 
ence,  we  find  it  taken  for  granted  that  there  is  an 
analogy  between  the  process  of  creation  and  that 
of  manufacture."  He  objects  to  this  on  the  ground 
that  it  does  not  show  us  whence  the  material  came 
which  the  Great  Artificer  thus  formed.  He  also 
holds  that  a  self-existent  Creator  is  inconceivable ; 
and  so,  by  a  few  logical  arguments,  extending 
through  less  than  three  pages,  dismisses  the  belief 
in  creation  as  an  impossible  idea. 

The  answer  to  one  who  tells  us  that  the  idea  of 
creation   is   unthinkable,  is   that  the   majority  of 


212  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

mankind  have  always  thought  it.  When  we  have 
logic  on  one  side  and  fact  on  the  other,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  take  much  time  in  replying  to  the 
logician. 

Modern  philosophers  have  strongly  objected  to 
the  argument  to  prove  a  Creator  from  the  adap- 
tations of  means  to  ends  in  nature.  Their  objec- 
tions seemed  for  a  time  to  discredit  this  belief. 
But  when  the  objections  are  more  carefully  ana- 
lyzed, their  importance  is  found  to  have  been  ex- 
aggerated. The  latest  and  most  careful  thinkers 
have  been  led  to  accept  again  this  finality  argu- 
ment, or  proof  from  final  causes  in  nature.  In 
fact,  the  more  recent  discoveries  in  biology  give  it 
an  almost  irresistible  power.  How  is  it  possible 
to  see  the  marvelous  organizations  in  microscopic 
life,  the  wonderful  instincts  of  animals,  the  innu- 
merable correlations  of  part  to  part,  of  organ  to 
function,  of  each  to  all,  of  prenatal  organs  to  future 
external  conditions,  and  explain  them,  as  the  an- 
cient materialists  did,  as  arising  from  the  fortui- 
tous concourse  of  senseless  atoms,  driven  by  blind 
forces,  during  innumerable  ages?  Suppose  that 
by  a  long  succession  of  happy  accidents,  the  be- 
ginning of  an  organized  universe  has  come.  Even 
this  beginning  would  imply  a  run  of  luck  in  favor 
of  a  Cosmos,  which  would  exceed  any  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  a  gamester's  good  fortune.  But  what 
blind  forces  create,  they  are  equally  likely  to  de- 


THE    ORIGI^q^    OF    THE    WORLD.  213 

stroy.  A  single  revolution  of  the  wheel  of  for- 
tune would  reduce  again  to  chaos  the  half-formed 
universe. 

Hence  modern  scientific  thinkers  have  aban- 
doned the  notion  of  chance  as  untenable.  Acci- 
dent has  given  way  to  law.  Those  who  deny 
creation  by  intelligence,  substitute  for  it  origin  by 
law.  But  then  the  question  immediately  returns : 
Did  these  laws  come  by  chance  or  by  design  ?  If 
they  have  no  intelligence  behind  them,  it  is  still 
chance  which  continues  to  be  the  source  of  a  won- 
derful order.  Laws  mean  nothing  but  regularity 
of  action.  Laws  are  not  creative  forces,  but  only 
the  rules  by  which  such  forces  work.  But  regu- 
larity, rules,  methods,  according  to  which  forces  ac- 
complish admirable  results,  are  themselves  indica- 
tions of  intellisfence.  So  that  the  ars-ument  for 
design  remains  in  its  full  force,  after  we  have  fully 
admitted  that  all  thing's  come  according:  to  immu- 
table  and  eternal  laws.  The  universe  created  by 
law  and  method,  and  not  merely  by  an  arbitrary 
will,  does  not  imply  less  intelligence  at  its  source, 
but  more. 

§  5.  Darwin  and  Natural  Selection. 

It  is  believed  by  many  that  the  theory  of  natu- 
ral selection,  as  enunciated  by  Mr.  Darwin,  disposes 
finally  of  the  argument  from  adaptation  to  design. 
Mr.  Darwin  himself  is  too  careful  a  thinker  to  com- 


214  TEN    GREAT   EELIGION^S. 

mit  himself  to  this  statement,  but  some  of  his  more 
incautious  followers  imao;ine  that  the  chief  arsru- 
ment  for  design  in  nature  is  forever  set  aside. 
Mr.  Morley,  for  example,  says:  "In  the  face  of 
the  Darwinian  hypothesis,  with  the  immense  mass 
of  evidence  already  accumulated  in  its  favor,  the 
inference  from  contrivance"  (to  an  intelligent  will) 
"exists,  to  say  the  best  of  it,  in  a  state  of  suspended 
animation." 

Granting,  for  the  sake  of  this  argument,  the 
scientific  truth  of  the  Darwinian  theory,  in  what 
way  does  it  affect  the  argument  from  design? 
The  theory  consists  of  three  parts :  First,  the  law 
of  descent,  by  which  the  seed  or  egg  reproduces 
the  specific  character  of  the  plant  or  animal  from 
which  it  came.  This  law  of  heredity  we  are  all 
familiar  with.  Secondly,  the  fact  of  occasional 
variations  from  this  law.  Thirdly,  the  hypothesis 
that  an  accumulation  of  favorable  variations  gives 
an  advantage  in  "  the  struggle  for  existence  "  which 
leads  to  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest."  It  is  sup- 
posed that  this  last  hypothesis,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  foregoing  fact  and  law  will  explain  the 
origin  of  the  most  complex  organism,  the  most 
marvelous  instinct.  But  when  we  say  "law  of 
descent"  or  "heredity,"  have  we  explained  any- 
thing? We  have  merely  given  a  name  to  the  mar- 
velous fact  that  some  potency  lies  in  each  seed  or 
egg,  which  causes  it  to  produce  a  plant  or  an  ani- 


THE    ORIGIX    OF    THE    WORLD.  215 

mal  like  that  from  which  the  seed  or  eo-o-  came. 

DO 

No  exphination  is  given  of  this  power ;  there  is  no 
physical  explanation  possible.  Nothing  we  can  dis- 
cover by  our  finest  instrument  shows  why  an  acorn 
will  inevitably  develop  into  an  oak,  and  not  into 
an  elm;  why  it  will  produce  the  wood,  bark,  leaves, 
flower,  and  fruit  of  an  oak.  Neither  the  Darwin- 
ian theory,  nor  any  other  purely  physical  theory, 
throws  the  least  light  on  that  fact.  Some  un- 
seen force  is  there,  some  masterful  and  spiritual 
potency. 

But  suppose  that  we  can  explain  it.  What 
then  ?  Is  the  instinct  less  marvelous  when  it  ar- 
rives, because  its  origin  is  understood  ?  Is  there 
a  less  wonderful  adaptation  and  balance  of  organs 
in  the  human  body,  by  which  the  nerve  forces  of 
the  brain  and  ganglionic  centres  carry  to  and  fro 
life  forces,  by  which  the  heart  pours  its  stream  of 
life  during  seventy  years,  night  and  day,  to  sup- 
ply every  part  of  the  body  with  its  appropriate 
nourishment ;  by  which  the  lungs  continually  sup- 
ply oxygen  to  the  blood,  and  maintain  the  vital 
heat ;  by  which  the  nutritive  system  works  on ; 
and  by  which  all  these  organs  are  kept  in  balance 
and  equipoise,  each  doing  its  own  work  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  rest,  maintaining  thus  the  vital 
vortex,  and  all  serving  the  uses  of  the  mind,  the 
heart,  the  will  ?  This  is  the  evident  end  which 
this  infinitely  complicated  aj)paratus  serves.     Let 


216  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

US  grant  that  this  wonderful  home  of  the  soul  has 
come  by  the  Darwinian  process,  is  it  any  the  less 
a  marvelous  display  of  means  adapted  to  an  end, 
and  that  end  one  of  supreme  importance  ? 

You  show  a  man  a  Waltham  watch.  He  cries 
out :  "  I  know  how  that  watch  was  made.  I  was  at 
the  factory  yesterday,  and  saw  all  the  machinery 
at  work."  Does  that  explain  away  the  adaptation 
of  the  parts  to  each  other,  and  their  co-relation  to 
an  end  ? 

You  read  to  another  man  the  play  of  "  Hamlet." 
He  informs  you  that  he  can  tell  you  precisely  how 
the  play  came  into  being,  where  the  paper  and  ink 
and  pens  came  from,  the  mechanical  process  by 
which  the  ink  was  absorbed,  and  the  chemical  law 
by  which  its  blackness  was  produced.  All  very 
well,  but  what  is  behind  it  all  ?  A  common  objec- 
tion to  creation  by  intelligent  purpose  is  to  call 
it  contriving  how  to  avoid  difficulties.  Paley  is 
quoted,  who  admits  that  "  contrivance  by  its  very 
definition  is  the  refuge  of  imperfection.  Why  re- 
sort to  contrivance  when  the  power  is  omnipo- 
tent? "  But  the  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  does 
not  necessarily  imply  overcoming  a  difficulty  by 
contrivance.  In  readino-  I  turn  over  the  leaf  of 
the  book.  This  is  adapting  means  to  an  end. 
But  it  implies  no  contrivance  to  avoid  a  difficulty. 
When  the  poet  sings,  the  saint  adores,  the  lover 
utters  his  affection,  they  all  adapt  means  to  ends; 


THE    OEIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD.  217 

they  exercise  no  contrivance,  but  accomplish  their 
purpose  through  universal  law.  An  Infinite  Intel- 
lio;ence  would  act  on  the  world  in  accordance  with 
its  own  everlasting  laws.  The  law  of  the  universe 
involves  everywhere  the  adaptation  of  means  to 
ends,  and  so  design  is  written  on  the  whole  face  of 
nature,  on  the  heavens  above  and  the  earth  be- 
neath and  the  waters  under  the  earth.  And,  if 
the  doctrine  of  universal  evolution  be  at  last  ac- 
cepted, instead  of  destroying  the  argument  for 
design,  it  will,  as  Professor  Asa  Gray  argues,  estab- 
lish it  on  immutable  foundations.  The  whole  phys- 
ical life  of  nature  proceeds  by  this  method.  But 
did  it  ever  occur  to  those  who  saw  God  in  the 
growth  of  trees,  flowers,  animals,  that  there  was 
less  of  a  divine  presence  because  the  whole  vege- 
table kingdom  is  evolved  by  the  law  of  insensible 
gradations  from  seeds,  and  the  whole  animal  king- 
dom by  the  same  law  from  eggs  ? 

§  6.  TJieory  of  Creation  hy  beings  above  man,  but  beloiv 
Crod.  This  theory  ivould  harmonize  the  doctrines  of 
Evolution,  Emanation,  and  Creation. 

The  countless  adaptations  of  the  world  show  to 
us  all-pervading  intelligence.  But  we  may  grant 
that  the  argument  of  design  in  nature  was  pushed 
too  far  when  it  was  inferred  that  these  wonderful 
adaptations  demonstrated  a  Supreme  Mind.  They 
prove  conclusively  that  the  world  we  see  has  come 


218  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

from  an  intelligent  purpose.  But  they  do  not  tell 
us  whether  that  intelligence  was  infinite  or  finite, 
subordinate  or  supreme.  Our  faith  in  a  Supreme 
and  Infinite  Intelligence  does  not  come  to  us  from 
these  methods  of  creation,  but  from  the  sight  of 
universal  order.  We  know  there  must  be  one  Su- 
preme Being,  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all ; 
from  whom,  through  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all 
things ;  because  we  see  in  nature  all  parts  cooper- 
ating together  into  a  Cosmos,  or  whole.  The  uni- 
verse is  a  majestic  unity,  the  result  of  innumerable 
varieties. 

Some  of  the  difficulties  which  we  find  in  the 
actual  constitution  of  thing-s  would  be  removed  if 
we  accept  another  theory.  This  is  the  view,  that 
while  God  is  the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the  uni- 
verse as  a  whole,  he  has  permitted  beings  inferior 
to  himself,  but  vastly  superior  to  man,  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  creation  in  subordination  to  his  own 
universal  laws.  In  a  previous  chapter  we  have 
seen  how  probable  it  is,  that  there  is  an  immense 
hierarchy  of  intelligences,  extending  upward  from 
man  toward  God.  Some  of  these  may  possess  such 
large  wisdom,  such  resources  of  reason  and  insight, 
as  to  be  able  by  making  use  of  God's  laws,  to  cre- 
ate races  of  plants  and  animals,  such  as  w^e  see  on 
the  earth.  They  would  be  creators  under  God, 
just  as  man  is  a  creator  under  God.  Man's  inven- 
tions are  creations.    Man  has  invented  the  j)low, 


THE    OEIGIN    OF    THE   WORLD.  219 

the  pump,  the  carriage,  the  ship,  by  making  him- 
self acquainted  with  what  we  call  the  laws  of 
nature.  But  these  laws  are  only  the  ever-present 
agency  of  Gocl.  He  fills  all  in  all.  He  holds  the 
universe  in  its  every  atom  by  the  mysterious  power 
of  gravitation.  He  balances  this  power  by  another, 
by  which  all  things  are  prevented  from  rushing 
together  in  ruin.  But  within  the  operation  of 
these  laws  he  allows  man  to  combine  and  create. 
Why  may  he  not  have  allowed  other  beings  supe- 
rior to  man  to  combine  and  create  hiii;her  works 
than  man  can  accomplish.  When  we  read  in  his- 
toric geology  of  the  vast  tribes  of  creatures,  radi- 
ata,  mollusks,  reptiles,  birds,  fishes,  mammals,  which 
have  inhabited  the  earth  during  enormous  periods 
before  man  came,  we  are  led  to  think  it  possible 
that  these  creatures  may  have  been  the  invention 
of  great  intelligences  by  the  permission  of  the  Most 
High.  And  though  man,  in  his  higher  nature,  de- 
rives his  being  directly  from  God,  —  as  the  idea  of 
right  and  wrong,  cause  and  effect,  and  the  reason 
which  contains  the  light  of  the  infinite  and  eternal, 
testify,  —  yet  his  lower  bodily  nature,  by  which  he 
is  allied  to  other  animals,  may  have  been  gradually 
developed  by  the  inventive  powers  of  subordinate 
beino-s. 

All  this  is  only  a  theory,  a  mere  gruggestion. 
But  I  see  in  it  nothing  irrational,  and  nothing 
opposed  to  faith  in  God  as  the  Supreme  Creator. 


220  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Indeed,  it  tends  to  exalt  our  conceptions  of  him, 
to  imagine  this  great  hierarchy  of  powers,  ascend- 
ing upward  in  long  gradation,  the  highest  and 
greatest  still  far  below  the  ineffable  majesty  of 
the  Supreme  Being.  And  with  this  conception  of 
his  greatness,  there  is  an  increased  strength  of  filial 
trust  and  love,  in  knowing  that  he  reaches  down, 
through  this  vast  range  of  being,  to  hold  every 
human  soul  to  himself,  by  his  indwelling  spirit, 
and  his  perpetual  providence. 

If  such  a  theory  as  I  have  suggested  be  tenable, 
it  would  combine  in  one  belief  the  essential  doc- 
trines of  evolution,  emanation,  and  creation.  All 
things  would  be  from  God,  but  would  come  by  the 
mediation  of  inferior  spirits  who  have  emanated 
from  him ;  and  these,  as  finite  spirits,  would  pro- 
ceed by  finite  and  tentative  methods,  creating  one 
after  another  the  varieties  of  life.  The  whole  flora 
and  fauna  of  the  world  would  then  speak  to  us,  not 
only  of  Him  in  whom  all  things  live  and  move  and 
have  their  being,  but  also  of  the  great  multitude 
of  benign  intelligences  employed  by  God  in  these 
offices  of  creation.  In  every  flower,  every  tree, 
every  organ  of  the  humblest  animal,  we  should 
see,  not  only  the  divine  presence  and  providence, 
but  the  loving,  patient  work  of  spirits  akin  to  our- 
selves. 

What  an  immense  gain  it  would  be  to  substitute 
for  the  cold,  mechanical  theories  of  evolution  by 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    WORLD.  221 

dead  force  and  blind  law,  a  higher  doctrine  of  evo- 
lution which,  retaining  every  fact  of  science,  should 
fill  the  world  with  spiritual  life  and  energy.  If, 
beside  the  Supreme  Creator,  there  are  also  subor- 
dinate creators,  we  may  conceive  of  them  as  still 
present  in  nature,  still  helping  to  reproduce  its 
beauty  and  life,  still  visible  in  the  tender  coloring 
of  the  sky  and  the  graceful  sweep  of  the  elm,  still 
audible  in  "  the  melodies  of  woods,  and  winds,  and 
waters."  Gracious  and  fair  were  the  divinities  of 
the  Greeks  by  the  side  of  their  fountains,  and  in 
the  depths  of  their  forests,  but  how  much  higher 
the  conception  which,  while  filling  all  space  with 
spiritual  ever-active  powers,  still  believes  in  God 
as  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  first  and  last,  whose  full- 
ness fills  all  in  all,  whose  light  inspires  all  intelli- 
gence, whose  life  is  the  animating  principle  of  all 
being. 


i 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

/ 

PRATER   AND   WORSHIP   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Prayer  and  worship  to  invisible  powers  universal.  §  2. 
Prayer  among  the  primitive  races.  Zulus.  North  American 
Indians.  Kaces  of  Asia.  Islands  of  the  Pacific.  The  prin- 
cipal element  of  this  prayer  is  supplication  for  outward  good. 
§  3.  Prayer  in  Ethnic  Religions.  Adoration  the  principal 
element  in  these  prayers.  The  Vedic  Hymns.  China.  The 
Greeks.  Mexicans.  §  4.  Prayer  in  the  Catholic  Religions. 
Desire  for  moral  goodness  now  appears.  The  Zend-Avesta. 
Buddhism.  Mohammedanism.  §  5.  The  universality  of  Sac- 
rifices. Their  origin.  §  6.  Jewish  Prayers.  The  Book  of 
Psalms.  God  spoken  to  as  a  friend.  Christian  Prayer.  No 
liturgy  in  the  New  Testament.  The  prayer  of  love.  §  7. 
Imprecatory  prayer  in  all  religions.  Improvement  in  the 
spirit  and  method  of  prayer.  §  8.  Decay  of  prayer  at  the 
present  time.  Divine  personality  doubted.  The  Future  of 
Prayer. 

§  1.  Prayer  and  worship  to  invisible  poivers  universal. 

/^NE  of  the  universal  facts  in  the  history  of 
^-^  man  is  the  custom  of  prayer  and  worship  ad- 
dressed to  invisible  powers.  All  that  man  does 
must  derive  its  motive  from  without  or  from  within, 
from  his  outward  experience  or  his  inward  tenden- 
cies.    Therefore,  when  we  find  this  custom  of  wor- 


PKAYER    AND    WORSHIP    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.       223 

ship  in  all  races,  barbarous  and  civilized  ;  in  all 
times,  the  most  ancient  and  most  recent ;  in  all 
religions,  from  the  lowest  superstition  to  the  high- 
est spirituality ;  one  of  two  things  must  be  true. 
Either  men  have  found  that  their  prayers  are  an- 
swered, and  that  they  actually  receive  blessings  in 
consequence  of  prayer  which  they  could  not  ob- 
tain without  it ;  or  else,  though  there  is  no  answer 
to  prayer,  and  they  get  no  good  by  it,  they  con- 
tinue to  pray  from  the  necessity  of  their  own  na- 
ture. Prayer  either  brings  divine  aid,  or  it  does 
not  bring  it.  If  it  brings  aid,  then  there  are  un- 
seen personal  beings  who  hear  and  answer  prayer ; 
and  so  Materialism  and  Atheism  and  Agnostic  the- 
ories are  confuted.  If  pra3^er  does  not  bring  aid, 
then,  in  addition  to  man's  other  endowments,  he 
must  have  been  created  with  such  instincts  of  the 
heart,  intuitions  of  the  mind,  and  aspirations  of 
the  soul  as  to  maintain  a  communion  with  powers 
unperceived  by  the  senses.  He  talks  forever  to  a 
silent  world  from  which  comes  no  response.  Then 
he  must  have  a  religious  organization,  which  has 
survived  through  all  the  long  processes  of  devel- 
opment. If  we  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  "  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,"  we  must  grant  that  the  fittest 
man  is  the  man  who  prays,  and  that  prayer  in 
some  way  or  other  has  been  helpful,  and  continues 
to  be  so.  The  Evolutionist,  at  any  rate,  must  be- 
lieve that  he  is  made  to  pray,  and  that  it  does  him 
good  to  pray. 


224  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

§  2.  Prayer  among  the  primitive  races.  Zulus.  North 
American  Indians.  Races  of  Asia.  Islands  of  the 
Pacific.  The  i^rincipal  element  of  this  prayer  suppli- 
cation for  outward  good. 

Beginning  Avitli  the  primitive  or  tribal  religions, 
we  find  prayer  as  universal  there  as  elsewhere. 

We  have  seen  among  the  primitive  races  the 
beginnino-s  of  relio-ious  faith  in  thinurs  unseen,  in 
their  stronsr  conviction  of  the  continued  existence 
of  human  souls  after  death.  To  these  disembod- 
ied spirits  it  is  natural  to  speak.  This  conversa- 
tion with  the  unseen  world  is  the  rudimentary 
form  of  prayer.  The  Sioux  Indians  say,  "  Sj)irits 
of  the  dead,  have  mercv  on  us."  The  Zulus  of 
Africa  call  on  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors,  with- 
out specifying  their  wants,  thinking  these  spirits 
can  know  without  being  told.  They  simj)ly  cry 
aloud,  "People  of  our  house!"  Sometimes  they 
say,  "  People  of  our  house  ;  cattle  !  "  "  People  of 
our  house,  good  luck  and  health  !  "  On  more  sol- 
emn occasions,  after  the  cattle-feast  and  sacrifices 
are  over,  the  head-man  of  the  tribe  speaks  thus, 
amid  a  profound  silence  :  "  Our  people  !  I  pray  to 
you.  I  sacrifice  these  cattle  to  you.  I  pray  for 
more  cattle  and  more  corn,  and  many  children  ; 
then  this  your  home  will  prosper,  and  many  will 
praise  and  thank  you." 

From  such  conversation  with  departed  friends 


PRAYEE   AND   WORSHIP   IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.      225 

and  appeals  to  souls  of  ancestors,  the  steps  are  sim- 
ple to  the  worship  of  higher  powers.  This  also  is 
found  among  primitive  nations.  In  the  Papuan 
island  of  Tanna,  a  prayer  is  offered  by  the  chiefs, 
with  the  first-fruits.  They  say,  "  Compassionate 
father,  here  is  some  food  for  you.  Eat  it,  and  be 
kind  to  us  on  account  of  it."  In  the  Samoan  Isl- 
ands, at  the  evening  meal,  a  libation  is  poured  out, 
and  the  head  of  the  household  prays  thus  :  "  Here 
is  ava  for  you,  0  gods !  Look  kindly  on  this  fam- 
ily ;  let  it  prosper,  let  us  be  kept  in  health,  let  our 
food  grow,  let  us  be  a  strong  people." 

The  Osage  Indians  prayed  to  the  Master  of  Life, 
Woli-konda,  "  Pity  me,  Woh-konda !  I  am  very 
poor.  Give  me  success  against  my  enemies.  Let 
me  avenge  the  death  of  my  friends.  Let  me  take 
many  scalps,  many  horses."  When  the  Algonquin 
Indians  set  out  to  cross  Lake  Superior,  the  canoes 
stopped  close  together,  and  the  chief,  in  a  loud 
voice,  offered  a  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit,  entreat- 
ing him  to  give  them  a  good  passage.  "  You  have 
made  this  lake,"  said  he,  "  and  made  us,  your  chil- 
dren. Cause  this  water  to  be  smooth  while  we 
pass  over."  Thus  he  prayed  for  some  minutes, 
and  then  they  all  threw  a  little  tobacco  into  the 
lake  as  a  propitiatory  offering.  A  Nootka  Indian, 
preparing  for  war,  says,  "  Great  Qua-hoot-zee  !  let 
me  live,  not  be  sick,  find  the  enemy,  not  be  afraid 
of  him,  find  him  asleep,  and  kill  many  of  him," 

16 


226  TEI^    GREAT   EELIGTON^S. 

To  these  people  there  was  nothing  wrong  in  such 
a  prayer,  for  to  them  war  was  a  duty.  The  mo- 
ment a  war  seems  right,  to  pray  for  victory  seems 
right  also.  Christian  nations  in  their  churches  still 
pray  for  victory  over  their  enemies.  But  there 
are  more  tender  prayers  to  be  found  among  these 
childlike  tribes.  A  Delaware  Indian  prayed  thus  : 
"  0  Great  Spirit  above  !  Have  pity  on  my  chil- 
dren and  on  my  wife.  Let  them  not  mourn  for 
me.  Let  me  succeed  in  this  enterprise,  slay  my 
enemy,  return  in  safety  to  my  dear  family  and 
friends,  that  we  may  rejoice  together.  Have  pity 
on  me,  and  protect  my  life."  The  negro  on  the 
Gold  Coast  prayed,  "  God,  give  me  to-day  rice  and 
yams  ;  give  me  slaves,  riches,  and  health.  Let  me 
be  brisk  and  swift."  Sometimes,  when  taking; 
medicine,  they  would  say,  "  Father  Heaven !  bless 
this  medicine  which  I  take."  The  ne2:ro  on  Lake 
Nyassa,  offering  to  his  Supreme  Deity  a  basket-full 
of  meal  and  a  pot  of  native  beer,  will  cry  out, 
"  Hear  thou,  0  God,  and  send  rain,"  and  the  peo- 
ple, softly  clapping  their  hands,  will  respond,  in- 
toning their  prayer,  as  they  always  do,  "  Hear  thou, 
O  God." 

Passing  over  to  Asia,  as  we  have  passed  from 
America  to  Africa,  the  Karens  of  Burmah  pray  to 
the  harvest-goddess  thus  :  "  Grandmother  !  thou 
guardest  my  field,  look  out  sharp  for  thieves.  If 
they   come,   bind    them    with    this    rope."      The 


PRAYER   AND   WORSHIP   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.      227 

Klionds  of  Orissa  cry  out,  "  0  Boora-Penner,  who 
created  us  and  made  us  to  be  hungry,  who  gave 
us  corn,  and  taught  us  to  plow.  Remembering 
this,  grant  our  prayers.  When  we  go  out  in  the 
early  morning  to  sow,  save  us  from  the  tiger  and 
the  snake.  Let  not  the  birds  eat  the  seed.  Let 
our  plows  go  easily  through  the  earth.  Let  the 
corn  be  so  plentiful  that  we  shall  drop  it  on  the 
way.  Let  our  cattle  be  so  many  that  there  shall 
be  no  room  for  them  in  the  stalls.  You  know 
what  is  good  for  us.     Give  it  to  us." 

In  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  similar  prayers 
abound.  I  quote  one,  which  is  offered  before  a 
thieving  expedition :  — 

"  O  thou  divine  Outre-reter! 
We  go  out  for  plunder. 
Cause  all  things  to  sleep  in  the  house. 
Owner  of  the  house,  sleep  on! 
Threshold  of  the  house,  sleep  on ! 
Little  insects  of  the  house,  sleep  on! 
Central-post,  ridge-pole,  rafters,  thatch  of  the  house,  sleep  on. 
O  Rongo,  grant  us  success." 

Such  are  the  prayers  of  the  childlike  races. 
They  are  prayers  for  temporal  success  and  out- 
ward blessings  only.  There  is  in  them  little  or  no 
petition  for  moral  improvement. 

But  let  us  not  fail  to  observe,  that  even  in  its 
lowest  forms,  prayer  exercises  an  influence  to  en- 
noble human  nature.  The  man  who  prays  belongs 
to  two  worlds ;  the  prayerless  man  to  only  one. 


228  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIOXS. 

The  man  who  prays  looks  up  to  something  higher 
than  himself,  and  so  is  made  better.  Lord  Bacon 
remarks  that  a  dog  who  looks  up  to  his  master  and 
relies  on  his  superior  wisdom,  has  in  him  the 
germ  of  religion,  and  gathers  strength  out  of  that 
reliance.  The  praying-troopers  of  Cromwell  were 
more  than  a  match  for  the  light-hearted  Cavaliers 
who  laughed  at  their  prayers.  "  We  must  recog- 
nize," says  Tylor,  "  even  in  savage  religion,  that 
prayer  is  a  means  of  strengthening  emotion,  sus- 
taining courage,  and  exciting  hope ;  while  in  higher 
faiths  it  becomes  a  great  motive  power  of  the  eth- 
ical system." 

§  3.  Prayer  in  ethnic  Religions.     Adoration  the  princi- 
pal  element   in    these   prayers.      The    Vedic   Hymns. 
China.     The  Greeks.     3Iexicans. 

The  ethnic,  race,  or  national  religions  which  we 
are  now  to  examine  in  reference  to  their  prayers 
and  worship,  are  those  of  China,  India,  Egypt,  As- 
syria, Greece,  and  Rome.  None  of  these  race-re- 
ligions have  a  prophet  for  their  founder,  for  Con- 
fucius did  not  found  the  religion  of  China,  but  only 
edited  and  systematized  its  existing  religion.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  say  that  we  trace  in  them  the  same 
supplications  for  outward  good  that  constitute  the 
substance  of  worship  in  the  primitive  or  tribal 
forms  of  prayer.  This  runs  through  all  religions, 
and  is  the  beginning  of  the  tie  which  binds  the 
soul  to  God. 


PRAYER   AND   WORSHIP   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     229 

Another  element  which  now  enters  prayer  and 
becomes  very  prominent  is  that  of  adoration.  The 
worshipper  exhausts  the  resources  of  language  in 
expressing  his  sense  of  the  greatness,  the  excel- 
lence, the  wisdom,  the  power,  the  goodness  of  his 
God.     He  heaps  upon  him  titles  of  reverence. 

The  Vedic  hymns,  for  example,  are  filled  with 
this  strain  of  adoring  homage.  The  following  are 
specimens  from  Muir's  "  Sanskrit  Texts." 

"  Of  which  god  now,  of  which  of  the  immortals,  shall 
we  invoke  the  amiable  name  ?  Let  us  invoke  the  amiable 
name  of  Aditi ;  of  the  divine  Agni,  first  of  the  immortals ; 
of  Varuna,  the  thousand-ej^ed,  skillful-handed,  possessed 
of  all  resources,  embracing  the  three  worlds,  whose  breath 
is  the  wind,  who  knows  the  flights  of  the  birds,  the  course 
of  the  far -traveling  wind,  and  is  a  witness  of  human 
truth  and  falsehood." 

Of  Agni,  god  of  fire,  it  is  said  that  he  is  "  The 
divine  monarch ; "  "  who  spread  out  heaven  and 
earth ; "  "  who  has  made  all  that  stands,  flies, 
walks,  and  moves ; "  "  who  is  the  summit  of  the 
iiky,  the  centre  of  the  earth  ;  "  "  at  whose  mighty 
deeds  men  tremble  ;"  "who  knows  men's  secrets, 
und  hears  their  prayers." 

Here  is  a  hymn  to  the  dawn  :  — 

"  The  light  has  arrived,  the  greatest  of  all  lights,  the 
glorious  and  brilliant  illumination  has  been  born.  The 
shining  Usbas,  fair  and  bright,  have  opened  the  doors  of 
the  sky,  setting  in  motion  all  living  things.     Usha  [the 


230  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

Dawn]  has  awakened  all  creatures.  Daughter  of  the  sky, 
youthful,  clad  in  shining  attive,  auspicious,  shine  on  us 
to-day  !  O  best  of  all  dawns,  arise !  Magnificent  God- 
dess, protecting  right,  imparting  joy,  undecaying,  im- 
mortal, arise  !  our  life,  our  breath  !  " 

These  are  specimens  of  the'  Vedic  hymns,  which 
adore  and  worship  in  turn  one  or  another  of  the 
powers  of  nature,  fire,  air,  the  sun,  the  dawn,  the 
soma  plant ;  yama,  god  of  immortality  ;  rivers, 
waters,  and  the  like.  Language  is  exhausted  in 
finding  terms  of  adoration,  reverence,  love  for 
these  deities,  each  of  which  represents  in  turn  the 
Infinite  Power  behind  them  all.  But  there  is  some- 
thing vague  in  this  worship.  Each  deity  lacks  sub- 
stance, reality.  These  prayers  gratify  the  senti- 
ment of  devotion,  but,  strictly  speaking,  are  not 
offered  to  any  personal  being. 

In  China  we  see  that  the  dominant  form  of  re- 
ligion is  the  piety  which  reverences  the  parent 
and  the  ancestors.  Ancestral  worship  was  early 
introduced  and  was  encouraged  by  the  teaching  of 
Confucius.  Then  followed  the  worship  of  higher 
spirits,  as  intercessors  and  mediators  with  the  Su- 
preme Being,  the  abstract  and  far-removed  heaven 
of  heavens.  The  Shi-King  and  the  Shu-King, 
books  composed  from  about  eighteen  centuries  to 
six  centuries  before  Christ,  speak  of  Shang-Ti  as 
the  true  God,  ruler  of  the  world,  giver  of  all 
things.     Dr.  Legge  gives  an  account  of  a  special 


PRAYER   AND    WORSHIP    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.     231 

series  of  prayers  offered  to  Shang-Ti  by  the  Em- 
peror of  China  in  the  year  1538.  A  sUght  change 
was  to  be  made  in  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, and  all  the  spirits  in  the  skies  were  invoked  to 
intercede  with  him  on  behalf  of  his  worshippers. 
The  service  begins,  — 

"  I,  the  Emperor,  have  respectfully  prepared  this  paper 
to  inform  the  spirit  of  the  sun,  the  spirit  of  the  moon,  the 
spirits  of  the  five  planets,  of  the  stars,  of  the  clouds,  of 
the  four  seas,  of  the  great  rivers,  of  the  present  year,  etc., 
that  on  the  first  of  next  month  we  shall  reverently  lead 
our  officers  and  people  to  honor  the  great  name  of  Shang- 
Ti.  We  inform  you  beforehand,  O  ye  celestial  and  ter- 
restial  spirits,  and  will  trouble  you,  on  our  behalf,  to 
exert  your  spiritual  power,  and  display  your  vigorous  ef- 
ficacy, communicating  our  poor  desire  to  Shang-Ti,  pray- 
ing him  to  accept  our  worship,  and  be  pleased  with  the 
new  title  which  we  shall  reverently  present  to  him." 

When  the  day  came  the  Emperor  and  his  court 
assembled  around  the  circular  altar.  First,  they 
prostrated  themselves  eleven  times,  and  then  ad- 
dressed the  great  being  as  he  who  dissipated  chaos, 
and  formed  the  heavens,  earth,  and  man  :  — 

"  Thou,  O  Ti,  didst  open  the  way  for  the  forces  of  mat- 
ter to  operate  ;  thou,  O  Spirit,  didst  produce  the  beauti- 
ful light  of  the  sun  and  moon,  that  all  thy  creatures 
might  be  happy. 

"  Thou  hast  vouchsafed  to  hear  us,  O  Ti,  for  thou  re- 
gardest  us  as  thy  children.  I,  thy  child,  dull  and  igno- 
rant, can  poorly  express  my  feelings.  Honorable  is  thy 
great  name." 


232  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIOJfS. 

Then  food  was  placed  on  the  altar,  first  boiled 
meat,  then  cups  of  wine,  and  Ti  was  requested  to 
receive  them,  with  these  words :  — 

"  The  Sovereign  Spirit  deigns  to  accept  our  offering. 
Give  thy  people  happiness.  Send  down  thy  favor.  All 
creatures  are  upheld  by  thy  love.  Thou  alone  art  the 
true  parent  of  all  things. 

"  The  service  of  song  is  now  completed,  but  our  poor 
sincerity  cannot  be  expressed  aright.  The  sense  of  thy 
goodness  is  in  our  heart.  We  have  adored  thee,  and 
would  unite  with  all  spirits  in  honoring  thy  name.  We 
place  it  on  this  sacred  sheet  of  paper,  and  now  put  it  in 
the  fire,  with  precious  silks,  that  the  smoke  may  go  up 
with  our  prayers  to  the  distant  blue  heavens.  Let  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  rejoice  in  thy  name." 

These  Chinese  prayers  are  of  adoration  and  rev- 
erence, for  the  whole  mind  of  that  nation  has  been 
steeped  in  reverence  from  the  beginning. 

As  regards  prayer  among  the  Greeks,  this  is 
what  the  learned  DoUinger  wrote  while  still  an 
orthodox  Koman  Catholic  :  — 

"  As  the  life  of  the  Greeks  was  penetrated  with  relig- 
ion, and  all  things  were  related  to  the  gods ;  therefore, 
prayer  was  woven  into  their  whole  public  and  private 
life.  As  a  rule  they  prayed  in  short  formulas  ;  and  a  cer- 
tain magical  or  compulsory  power  was  ascribed  to  these 
formulas,  binding  the  gods,  and  compelling  them  to  as- 
sist their  worshippers,  as  was  still  more  the  case  among 
the  Romans.  Plato  says,  '  Every  man  of  sense,  before 
beginning  any  important  work,  will  ask  help  of  the  gods.' 


PRATER   AND   WORSHIP    IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.     233 

Therefore,  he  himself,  before  commencing  the  Timaaus, 
says,  '  Since  I  am  about  to  speak  of  the  nature  of  the 
Universe,  I  must  first  invoke  the  gods,  that  I  may  say 
what  is  reasonable  and  true.'  " . 

Plutarch  tells  that  the  great  orator  Pericles,  be- 
fore he  began  to  speak,  always  prayed  to  the  gods 
for  power  to  do  a  good  work  by  his  oration. 

In  Homer,  Nestor  is  represented  as  praying  for 
success  for  the  ambassadors  to  Achilles,  and  Ulysses 
prays  before  going  to  the  Trojan  camp.  Priam 
also  prays  before  going  to  ask  for  the  body  of 
Hector.  Lucian  speaks  of  Demosthenes  praying, 
with  his  hand  on  his  mouth,  before  beg;innino-  his 
speeches  in  the  Greek  Courts.  Xenophon,  during 
the  retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  prays  before  each 
day's  march.  Plato,  in  "  The  Laws,"  speaks  of 
children  who,  every  day,  hear  their  mothers  ea- 
gerly talking  with  the  gods  in  the  most  earnest 
manner,  beseeching  them  for  blessings. 

Seneca,  the  philosopher,  says  :  — 

"  We  worship  and  adore  the  framer  and  former  of  the 
universe;  governor,  disposer,  keeper;  hiui  on  whom  all 
things  depend  ;  mind  and  spirit  of  the  world  ;  from  whom 
all  things  spring;  by  whose  spirit  we  live;  the  divine 
spirit  diffused  through  all ;  God  all-powerful ;  God  al- 
ways present ;  God  above  all  other  gods ;  thee  we  wor- 
ship and  adore." 

Epictetus  says :  — 

"  Dare  to  lift  thine  eyes  to  God  and  to  say,  use  me  for 


234  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

what  tbou  wilt.  I  agree,  and  am  of  the  same  mind  with 
thee.  I  refuse  nothing  that  seems  good  to  thee.  Lead  me 
where  thou  wilt,  and  I  will  go." 

The  cuneiform  writings  on  the  tablets  show  us 
that  the  Assyrians  also  prayed.  On  an  unpub- 
lished tablet  in  the  British  Museum,  is  this  prayer 
of  King  Asshur-da-ni-pal,  b.  c.  650  :  — 

"  May  the  look  of  pity  that  shines  in  thine  eternal  face 
dispel  my  griefs. 

"  May  I  never  feel  the  anger  and  wrath  of  the  God. 

"  May  my  omissions  and  my  sins  be  wiped  out. 

"  May  I  find  reconciliation  with  Him,  for  I  am  the  ser- 
vant of  his  power,  the  adorer  of  the  great  gods. 

"  May  thy  powerful  face  come  to  my  help  ;  may  it 
shine  like  heaven,  and  bless  me  with  happiness  and  abun- 
dance of  riches. 

"  May  it  bring  forth  in  abundance,  like  the  earth,  hap- 
piness and  every  sort  of  good." 

The  ancient  Mexicans  recognized  a  Supreme  Be- 
ing, and  addressed  him  as  "  the  God  by  whom  we 
live  ;  "  "  thou  Omnipresent,  who  knoweth  all  our 
thoughts,  and  giveth  all  gifts  ;  "  "  without  whom 
man  is  nothing ; "  "  invisible,  without  body,  one 
God,  of  perfection  and  purity ;  "  "  under  whose 
wings  we  find  repose  and  sure  defense." 

They  had  regular  forms  of  prayer ;  and  what  is 
a  very  curious  coincidence,  they  baptized  children 
with  this  formula :  "  Let  these  holy  drops  wash 
away  the  sin  that  it  received  before  the  founda- 


PEAYER   AND    WORSHIP   IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.      235 

tion  of  the  world ;  so  that  the  child  may  be  new 
born." 

§  4.  Prayer  in  the  Catholic  Religions.  Desire  for  moral 
goodness  noiu  appears.  The  Zend-Avesta.  Buddhism. 
Mohammedanism. 

We  now  pass  to  prayer  and  worship  in  the  mon- 
otheistic or  prophetic  religions,  in  which  we   in- 
clude the  systems  of   Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Moses, 
Mohammed,  and  Christ.     Here  at  once  comes  in  a 
new  element.     In  addition  to  the  prayer  for  par- 
don in  the  past  is  the  desire  for  improvement  in 
the  future.     It  is  a  supplication  for  goodness ;  to 
be  made  morally  better.     The  Zend-Avesta  is  full 
of  such  expressions  as  these  :  "  May  we,  by  means 
of  good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  actions 
resist  evil  thoughts,  evil  words,  and  evil  actions.' 
"  0  Lord  of  good  things,  who  givest  to  us  the  pu- 
rity by  which  we  live,  announce  it  to  us,  0  Mazda 
that  we  may  know  it,  and  teach  it  to  all  living.' 
•^  Let  me  know  fullness  of  life,  purity,  and  immor 
tality."     "May  power  and  strength  come  tome 
that  I  may  maintain  purity  in  thought,  in  word 
and  in  action." 

Buddhism,  we  know,  is  often  said  to  have  no 
God.  But  if  Buddhism  is  without  a  God,  how  can 
it  have  any  prayers  ?  If  the  Buddha  has  entered 
Nirvana,  and  if  Nirvana  means  cessation  of  exist- 
ence, how  can  he  be  an  object  of  worship  ?     Ac- 


236  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS.  : 

cording  to  this  theory,  then,  the  Buddhist  ought 
not  to  pray.     But  we  are  assured  by  travelers  in 
Buddhist  countries  that  prayer  is  universal.     In 
Thibet   prayer-meetings   are   held   at  evening  in 
the  streets,  and  Father  Hue  was  much  edified  by 
those  he  saw  in  Lassa,   and  wished  that  similar 
meetings  might  be  held  in  Paris.     Mr.  Malcolm 
one  day  visited  a  pagoda  in  Burmah,  and  was  im- 
pressed by  the  sight  of  an  old  man  who  came  rev- 
erently in,  leading  a  little  boy  by  the  hand,  and 
both  knelt  in  worship  before  the  image  of  Buddha. 
Koeppen  says  that  some  of  the  Buddhist  prayers 
might,  with  a  few  alterations,  be  suitable  for  Chris- 
tian churches.     As  an  example,  he  gives  a  part  of 
a  Buddhist  prayer  recorded  by  Pallas  :  — 
"  Thou  in  whom  innumerable  creatures  believe  I 
Thou,  Buddha,  Victor  over  the  hosts  of  evil ! 
Thou,  all-wise  Being,  come  down  to  our  world  ! 
Made  perfect  and  glorified  by  innumerable  by-gone  rev- 
olutions ;  always  pitiful,  always  gracious  toward  all 
creatures ! 
Look  down  upon  us  ;  for  the  time  has  come  to  pour  out 

blessings  on  all  creatures. 
Be  gracious  to  us  from  thy  throne  built  in  thy  heav- 
enly world. 
Thou  art  the  eternal  redemption  of  all  creatures,  there- 
fore bow  down  to  us  with  all  thy  unstained  heav- 
enly societies." 

Among  Mohammedans  prayer  is  universal.    The 
Koran  calls  prayer  the  pillar  of  religion  and  the 


EKAYER   AND    WORSHIP    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     237 

key  of  Paradise.  The  pious  Moslem  prays  five 
times  a  clay  :  (1)  Before  smirise,  (2)  at  noon,  (3) 
before  smiset,  (4)  after  smiset,  (5)  when  night 
has  shut  in.  Wlierever  he .  may  be,  in  the  street, 
in  his  shop,  he  steps  aside,  spreads  out  his  carpet 
or  cloak,  takes  off  his  shoes,  and,  with  his  face 
toward  Mecca,  goes  through  his  picturesque  de- 
votions. The  call  to  prayer  is  intoned  from  the 
minarets  in  the  cities ;  rosaries  with  ninety-nine 
beads  for  the  names  of  Allah  are  carried  in  the 
hands,  wherewith  to  count  the  prayers  of  ejacula- 
tion. Great  solemnity  and  decorum  is  maintained 
in  the  worship  of  the  mosques,  and  travelers  have 
said  that,  when  crowded  with  worshippers,  you 
might  shut  your  eyes  and  think  you  were  alone. 

One  of  the  Persian  Mohammedans,  called  Ssufis, 
thus  speaks  :  — 

"  Unceasingly  a  divine  influence  flows  down  from  the 
unknown  world  into  our  souls.  The  voice  of  God  comes 
into  our  heart,  and  this  is  the  root  of  all  language.  If 
God  speaks,  man  answers.  Nay !  if  God  should  speak 
to  dead  matter  and  ask,  '  Art  not  thou  also  my  creature  ?  ' 
it  would  reply,  '  O  Lord  !  I  am.'  " 

The  same  Mohammedan  writer  speaks  thus  of 
prayer :  — 

"  There  are  three  degrees  of  prayer.  The  first  is  when 
it  is  only  spoken  by  the  lips.  The  second  kind  is  when, 
with  difficulty  and  by  a  resolute  effort,  tlie  soul  succeeds 
in  fixing  its  thought  on  divine  things.    The  third  is  when 


238  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

it  finds  it  hard  to  turn  away  from  God.  But  it  is  the 
very  marrow  of  prayer  when  God  takes  possession  of  the 
soul  of  the  suppliant,  and  he  is  absorbed  into  the  Divine 
Being  and  ceases  from  all  thought,  so  that  the  prayer 
seems  like  a  veil  between  himself  and  God." 

Here    are    some    examples    of    Mohammedan 
prayers  of  this  mystical  sect  called  Ssufis. 
Prayer  of  Attac,  twelfth  century  :  — 

"  Soul  of  the  Soul !  Neither  thought  nor  reason  com- 
prehend thy  essence,  and  no  one  knows  thy  attributes. 
Souls  have  no  idea  of  thy  being.  The  prophets  them- 
selves sink  in  the  dust  of  thy  road.  Although  intellect 
exists  by  thee,  has  it  ever  yet  found  the  path  of  thy  exist- 
ence ?  O  thou,  who  art  in  the  interior  and  in  the  exterior 
of  the  soul!  thou  art  and  thou  art  not  that  which  I  say. 
In  thy  presence  reason  grows  dizzy ;  it  loses  the  thread 
that  would  direct  it  in  thy  way.  I  perceive  clearly  the 
universe  in  thee,  and  yet  discover  thee  not  in  the  world. 
All  beings  are  marked  with  thy  impress,  but  thyself  hast 
no  impress  visible ;  thou  reservest  the  secret  of  thine 
existence." 

Prayer  of  Abulfazl,  a.  d.  1595 :  — 

"  O  Lord,  whose  secrets  are  forever  veiled, 
And  whose  perfection  knows  not  a  beginning ! 
End  and  beginning  both  are  lost  in  Thee ; 
No  trace  of  them  is  found  in  thy  eternal  realm. 
My  words  are  lame ;  my  tongue,  a  stony  tract ; 
Slow  wings  my  foot,  and  wide  is  the  expanse. 
Confused  are  my  thoughts ;  but  this  is  thy  best  praise. 
In  ecstasy  alone  I  see  Thee  face  to  face." 


PRAYER   AND    WORSHIP    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     239 

§  5.   The  universality  of  Sacrifices.     Their  origin. 

In  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  all  religions, 
from  the  lowest  upward  till  we  reach  Christianity, 
sacrifices  have  been  common.  Men  have  offered 
to  their  gods  the  best  things  they  had,  the  fruits 
of  the  earth,  the  flocks  and  herds  which  made 
up  their  wealth.  Sacrifices  are  visible  prayers, 
prayers  in  act.  The  sincerity  of  the  worshipper 
appears  in  his  offering.  Some  sacrifices  are  thank- 
offerings,  given  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  for 
benefits  received.  Other  sacrifices  are  offered  as 
supplications  for  help  desired,  as  when  before  a 
military  expedition  a  hundred  victims  were  sacri- 
ficed for  success  in  war.  Thus  a  valuable  present 
is  offered  to  the  gods  to  induce  them  to  be  pro- 
pitious, just  as  it  would  be  offered  to  an  Eastern 
king,  or  to  a  Prime  Minister  to  obtain  his  favor. 
Other  sacrifices  are  sin-offerings,  given  in  expia- 
tion of  some  crime,  to  turn  away  the  indignation 
of  the  Deity.  Others  again  were  offered  to  con- 
firm a  vow,  or  make  fast  a  covenant  between  the 
worshipper  and  his  God.  Thus  every  part  of 
prayer  is  represented  by  these  visible  orisons: 
thanksgiving,  confession,  supplication,  adoration, 
self -dedication. 

Sacrifices,  being  so  universal,  are  evidently  the 
natural  methods  taken  by  men  to  express  their 
religious  feelings,  and  show  their  religious  sin- 
cerity. 


240  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

But  the  sacrifices  which  always  became  most 
prominent  were  those  in  expiation  of  sin.  These 
we  find  in  all  nations  and  all  religions,  testifying 
that  conscience  is  universal  in  man.  These  sacri- 
fices show  that  man  has  the  sense  of  wrono;-doino;. 
He  believes  that  he  needs  to  do  somethino;  to  ob- 
tain  pardon.  Such  ideas  spring  up  naturally  in 
the  soul. 

While  some  inward  instinct  of  the  soul  leads 
man  to  adore  and  worship  these  invisible  pres- 
ences, and  to  supplicate  help  from  the  heavenly 
powers,  an  opposite  tendency  drifts  him  away  from 
such  spiritual  communion,  and  subjects  him  to  the 
rule  of  sense.  Outward  things  distract  his  atten- 
tion, and  make  him  forget  his  prayers.  Therefore 
he  seeks  for  help  in  those  very  outward  things 
themselves.  To  keep  his  mind  fixed  on  God,  he 
makes  an  image  and  calls  it  God,  and  by  this 
means  fixes  his  attention.  This  is  the  ori^-in  of 
idolatry.  The  Roman  Catholic  kneeling  before  a 
picture  of  the  Madonna  does  not  mean  to  pray  to 
the  picture,  but  by  means  of  the  picture  to  keep 
his  mind  fixed  on  the  invisible  mother  of  Christ. 
Just  so  the  savages  use  their  idols  as  helps,  and 
pray  to  the  God  behind  them.  Such  is  the  legiti- 
mate origin  of  idolatry.  After,  awhile  the  relig- 
ious associations  which  connect  the  idol  itself  with 
the  divinity  it  represents  grow  so  strong  that  the 
image  becomes  sacred,  and  the  God  appears  to  be 


PRATER   AND    WORSHIP    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.     241 

fixed  to  it,  to  dwell  in  it.  All  idolatry  runs  into 
this  extreme,  and  worships  the  means  of  religion 
as  if  they  were  the  end.  The  Sabbath  was  a  means 
of  shutting  out  the  world,  it  was  "  made  for  man." 
But  at  last  the  Sabbath  was  considered  as  holy  in 
itself,  apart  from  its  uses ;  then  man  seemed  made 
for  the  Sabbath.  So  the  church  and  the  temple 
were  made  as  places  where  the  worshipper  could 
be  surrounded  with  sacred  associations,  and  helped 
to  fix  his  attention  on  things  unseen.  The  use  of 
the  Liturgy,  of  the  Rosary,  of  the  Bible,  are  for 
the  same  end.  All  are  meant  as  helps  to  prayer, 
and  as  such  are  good.  But  when  we  talk  of  the 
Holy  Sabbath,  the  Holy  Church,  God's  day,  God's 
house,  we  are  drifting  toward  the  same  sort  of 
mechanism  in  religion  which  led  to  the  prayer- 
mills  of  the  Buddhists. 

§  6.  Jewish  Prayers.  The  Booh  of  Psalms.  God  spoken 
to  as  a  friend.  Christian  Prayer.  No  liturgy  in  the 
New  Testament.     TJie  prayer  of  love. 

When  we  turn  from  these  ethnic  and  prophetic 
religions,  and  read  the  Book  of  Psalms  in  the  Old 
Testament,  we  seem  to  enter  into  a  new  atmos- 
phere. In  the  Yedic  hymns,  in  the  hymns  on  the 
Egyptian  monuments,  and  in  the  other  religions 
we  find  adoration,  reverence,  profound  sincerity, 
and  a  longing  for  help  from  on  high.  But  the  ele- 
ment which  comes  into  prayer  with  the  Psalms  of 

16 


242  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIOKS. 

David  is  one  of  happy  trust,  the  freedom  of  child- 
like intercourse.  God,  who  in  the  other  relicrions 
was  far  away,  has  now  come  near  and  walks  with 
man  as  a  friend.  Therefore  this  Jewish  psalter 
continues  to  be  the  best  prayer-book  for  Christians 
down  to  this  hoar.  With  much  in  it  that  is  not 
Christian,  and  which  we  cannot  believe  in  or 
rightly  use,  there  is  in  it  so  much  of  inspiration, 
comfort,  and  joy,  so  much  to  purify  and  strengthen 
the  soul,  that  we  feel  it  often  reached  the  very 
spirit  of  Christ  before  Christ  came. 

The  New  Testament  contains  no  liturgy,  no 
hymnal,  no  forms  of  prayer  except  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  This  could  not  have  been  accidental. 
The  disciples  asked  for  some  such  help  for  their 
devotions.  Jesus  gave  only  this  brief  summary  of 
worship.  He  feared  routine ;  he  warned  them 
against  endless  repetitions,  like  those  of  the  Vedas 
and  Zend-Avesta.  He  preferred  private  to  public 
prayer,  as  being  more  sincere  and  real.  ^'  Be  not 
like  the  heathen,"  he  said,  using  "  vain  repeti- 
tions." The  worshippers  of  Baal  called  to  their 
god  the  wdiole  morning,  crying,  "  0  Baal !  hear 
us !  "  The  Ephesians  cried  for  two  hours,  "  Great 
is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  !  "  Terence  makes  one 
of  his  characters  say  :  "  Wife,  cease  deafening  the 
gods  with  your  prayers.  You  seem  to  think  them 
like  yourself,  unable  to  understand  a  thing  till  it 
has  been  said  a  hundred  times."     Martin  Luther 


PRA.YER   AND    WOESHIP   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     243 

says :  "  Few  words  and  much  meaning  is  Christian; 
many  words  and  Httle  meaning  is  heathen." 

Jesus  teaches  us  to  pray  in  spirit  and  truth,  to 
ask  in  faith,  to  ask  especially  for  the  Holy  Spirit, 
to  "ask  in  his  name,"  that  is  in  his  spirit.-^ 

Thus  we  see  the  ascent  of  prayer ;  first  of  all  it 
is  a  magical  charm,  an  incantation,  a  mere  means 
of  gaining  power,  wealth,  pleasure,  victory ;  then 
it  rises  higher  and  becomes  adoration,  and  a  form 
of  sacrifice.  Then  we  see  it  helping  itself  with 
outward  aids ;  with  images  and  idols ;  with  sacri- 
fices and  incense ;  with  holy  places,  holy  persons, 
holy  altars  and  holy  books ;  with  liturgies  and  lit- 
anies. At  last,  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  it  reaches 
the  highest  form,  as  a  life  of  communion  with  the 
all-loving,  ever-j)resent  father  and  friend. 

As  man  ascends,  his  prayer  also  becomes  more 
elevated.  The  element  of  fear  is  first  partially 
eliminated.  It  is  not  true,  as  Lucretius  asserted, 
that  all  religion  rests  on  fear.  But  in  many  relig- 
ions the  gods  were  regarded  as  capricious,  revenge- 
ful and  cruel.  And  this  view  is  the  source  of  human 
sacrifices,  of  ascetic  mortifications,  and  of  a  thou- 
sand devices  for  appeasing  an  angry  Deity. 

^  The  Concordance  will  show  how  often  in  the  Jewish  books, 
"name"  stands  for  the  character,  nature,  or  spirit  of  the  person 
or  thing. 


244  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

§  7.  Imprecatory  prayer  in  all  religions.    Improvement  in 
the  spirit  and  method  of  prayer. 

As  prayer  continues  to  ascend,  the  imprecatory 
element  drops  out  of  it. 

The  imprecations  of  Greeks  (says  Potter),  were 
very  terrible,  and  so  powerful,  when  duly  pro- 
nounced, as  to  occasion  the  destruction,  not  only 
of  many  persons,  but  of  whole  cities.  The  impre- 
cations of  Myrtilus  on  Pelops  brought  all  the 
dreadful  sufferings  which  Atreus,  Agamemnon,  and 
Orestes  endured.  The  most  dreadful  imprecations 
were  those  by  parents,  priests,  kings,  and  prophets. 
Criminals  were  publicly  cursed  by  the  priests.  Alci- 
biades  was  banished  and  cursed  by  all  the  priests 
of  Athens.  A  single  priestess  (we  are  glad  to  hear) 
refused.  Theano  said  her  office  was  to  bless  and 
not  to  curse.  Pliny  says,  ''All  men  fear  impreca- 
tions." 

Among  the  Jews  we  read  of  the  curse  of  Saul 
on  Jonathan,  and  of  Balaam  sent  for  to  curse  the 
Israelites.  The  imprecatory  Psalms  are  still  read 
in  many  churches.  And  this  element  of  impreca- 
tion survives  in  the  Church  of  England  ;  soon,  let 
us  hope,  to  be  removed.  There  is  a  commination 
service  still  ordered  to  be  read  on  the  first  day  of 
Lent,  in  which  to  each  of  a  long  series  of  curses 
the  people  are  to  say  Amen.  But  Jesus  has  ex- 
plicitly forbidden  all  this.     "  Bless  your  enemies," 


PRAYER  AND   WORSHIP    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     245 

he  says  :  ''  bless  and  curse  not."  He  tells  us  to  be 
like  God,  who  sends  blessing  and  not  cursing  on 
his  enemies. 

As  prayer  ascends,  supplications  for  outward 
blessings  greatly  decrease,  and  prayer  for  inward 
spiritual  blessings  takes  their  place ;  and  finally, 
formal  prayer,  the  prayer  of  place,  time,  routine, 
gives  way  to  the  prayer  of  the  spirit,  of  life,  of 
love. 

We  do  not  always  notice  what  a  step  forward 
was  taken  by  Christianity  when  it  dropped  the 
ritual  of  the  Jewish  and  Pasran  relioions.  The 
whole  system  of  sacrifices  disappeared;  the  mag- 
nificent temple  worship  came  to  an  end ;  the 
priesthood  was  abolished ;  fasts  and  festivals  were 
no  more  ;  there  were  no  processions,  no  sacred 
temples,  no  altars  or  shrines;  no  holy  mysteries; 
no  augurs,  nor  auspices,  nor  divination  ;  no  public 
worship  of  any  kind.  Every  Christian  was  a  priest, 
having  direct  access  to  God ;  the  rest  of  the  soul 
was  the  true  Sabbath ;  the  true  prayers  were  not 
at  Gerizim  or  at  Jerusalem,  but  were  to  be  made 
in  spirit  and  truth,  by  going  into  the  closet  of  the 
heart  and  shuttino;  the  door.  It  is  true  that  Ritual- 
ism  afterward  reappeared  in  the  Christian  Church ; 
the  old  Eoman  calendar  of  sacred  days  was  repro- 
duced in  a  Christian  calendar  of  saints'  days ;  new 
festivals  and  fasts  took  the  place  of  the  old.  But 
for  three  hundred  years  Christianity  was  a  religion 


246  TEjq-    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

without  a  ritual,  or  a  priesthood,  or  temples,  or 
altars,  or  public  worship.  And  when  these  re- 
turned they  came  back  in  a  purer  form  and  a 
better  type.  Jesus  did  not  put  his  new  wine  of 
the  soul  into  the  old  bottles  of  Jewish  or  Eoman 
ritual. 

§  8.  Decay  of  'prayer  at  the  present  time.    Divine  person- 
ality doubted.     The  Future  of  Prayer. 

There  have  been  times  when  all  men  prayed, 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  a  feeling  of  need,  or  as 
a  long-established  form,  an  unquestioned  custom. 
We  have  passed  into  another  period,  when  faith  in 
prayer  has  been  much  diminished.  Men  no  longer 
pray  as  they  once  did,  as  a  matter  of  duty  or  as  a 
form ;  and  large  numbers  do  not  pray  as  a  matter 
of  conviction.  They  have  ceased  to  believe  in 
prayer,  either  as  a  duty  or  as  a  source  of  strength 
and  comfort.  They  do  not  pray  for  outward  bless- 
ings, for  they  believe  that  these  come  or  do  not 
come  in  accordance  with  inexorable  natural  law. 
They  do  not  pray  for  inward  strength  and  comfort, 
doubting  whether  these  also  may  not  be  under  the 
same  rigorous  domain  of  unchanging  law.  "  Why 
ask  for  outward  or  inward  blessings  ? "  they  say. 
"  If  it  be  right  that  we  shall  have  them,  they  will 
be  given  without  our  asking ;  if  wrong,  they  will 
not  be  given,  no  matter  how  much  we  pray." 
They  do  not  see  that  this  simple  logic  may  be  met 


PRAYER   AND   WORSHIP   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     247 

by  other  arguments  as  intelligible,  that  the  prayer 
itself  may  enter  into  the  nexus  of  things  as  a  new 
element,  to  make  that  right  which  otherwise  would 
not  have  been  so.  But  a  deeper  objection  still 
operates  in  our  time  to  palsy  the  spirit  of  prayer. 
It  is  doubt  concerning  the  personality  of  Gocl,  —  a 
kind  of  Pantheistic  view  of  the  Deity  as  the  un- 
conscious soul  of  the  universe,  —  as  the  vast  plastic 
power  of  nature,  with  no  eye  to  see,  ear  to  hear, 
or  heart  to  pity  the  needs  of  mankind ;  and  with- 
out a  belief  in  the  personality  of  God,  no  prayer  is 
possible. 

But  what  precisely  is  meant  by  denying  the 
personality  of  God  ?  Personality  in  man  is  the 
highest  spiritual  fact  of  which  we  have  knowledge. 
We  mean  by  it  that  wonderful  unity  of  thought, 
love,  and  will,  out  of  which  centre  influence  radi- 
ates in  all  directions.  The  glorious  distinction  of 
the  human  soul  is  that  its  action  is  combined  with 
its  knowledge  and  desire,  that  it  puts  forth  its 
power  deliberately,  sustained  by  all  its  knowledge, 
and  all  its  hope. 

If  we  have  any  distinct  meaning  when  we  use 
the  word  God,  we  mean  the  highest  being  of  whom 
we  are  capable  of  conceiving.  Make  him  imper- 
sonal, and  he  is  not  the  highest ;  we  have  omitted 
the  chief  perfection.  An  infinitely  mighty  power, 
working  bUndly,  chained  by  law,  would  be  lower 
than  man.      Man's  conscious,  deliberate  purpose 


248  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

would  make  him  superior  to  such  a  God.  Man,  as 
a  person,  is  essentially  higher  in  the  scale  of  being 
than  an  impersonal  deity. 

But  these  difficulties  and  doubts,  which  at  pres- 
ent prevent  so  many  from  having  the  strength, 
light,  and  peace  which  come  from  a  habit  of 
prayer,  can  be  only  temporary  in  their  influence. 
We  are  on  our  way  to  a  higher  conception  of 
Christian  prayer  than  those  which  have  hitherto 
prevailed.  The  prayer  of  mere  form  and  cere- 
mony is  passing  away,  never  to  return.  The 
prayer  of  the  Spirit,  the  sense  of  God's  presence 
in  the  soul,  the  child-like  prayer  taught  and  exem- 
plified by  Jesus,  will  be  found  an  indispensable 
element  of  human  progress.  The  full  develop- 
ment of  man  will  only  be  reached  when  he  is  in 
constant  communion  with  God,  according  to  the 
favorite  formula  of  Jesus,  who  said  of  the  Father : 
"I  in  him,  and  he  in  me."  Thus  work  and  prayer, 
though  not  the  same,  will  be  each  for  the  other. 
Work  will  lead  to  prayer  and  prayer  to  work,  and 
human  life  will  be  full  of  God.  Until  this  fullness 
of  God  comes  to  us,  we  have  not  reached  the 
object  of  our  existence.  Toward  this  great  end 
the  human  race  is  tending,  when  religion  shall  fill 
all  of  life,  when  it  shall  inspire  all  work,  gladden 
all  labor  J,  be  comfort  and  strength  at  all  hours,  and 
promote  the  highest  development  of  which  the 
human  race  is  capable. 


PRATER  AND   WORSHIP   IN   ALL    RELIGIOXS.     249 

The  saying  quoted  by  Christ,  "  My  house  shall 
be  called  the  house  of  prayer  for  all  nations,"  may 
be  applied  to  our  globe.  It,  also,  is  a  house  of 
prayer  for  all  nations.  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  one  of 
his  picturesque  paragraphs,  supposes  one  looking 
down  from  the  battlements  of  heaven,  and  seeing 
all  the  woes  of  earth  spread  oat  beneath  him  in 
one  great  panorama  of  misery.  But  this  supposed 
spectator  would  also  behold  another  more  consol- 
ing spectacle  :  that  of  mankind  lifting  up  its  heart 
out  of  those  miseries  to  the  God  of  all  consolation. 
The  world  is  ahvays  at  prayer.  This  uninterrupted 
worship  is  continually  going  on  around  the  globe. 
As  the  sun  rises  on  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia  it 
looks  down  on  the  prayer  of  the  Buddhists  in 
Japan ;  as  going  westward  it  continues  to  unseal 
the  eyelids  of  the  morning,  it  beholds  the  Chinese 
praying  in  the  shrines  of  their  ancestors  or  in  the 
pagodas  of  Pekin ;  it  sees  the  monks  in  the  Bud- 
dhist monasteries  of  Tartary  at  their  early  matins, 
the  Brahmins  of  India  reciting  the  Vedic  hymns, 
the  Mohammedans,  called  by  the  voice  of  the 
muezzin  to  early  worship.  And  as  the  line  of 
coming  day  moves  on  into  Europe,  it  lights  up  the 
Christian  churches  of  the  East,  the  minsters  of 
Central  and  Western  Europe,  and  so  crosses  the 
Atlantic  to  find  other  thousands  of  churches,  raised 
for  prayer  and  praise  by  the  Christians  of  America. 
It  looks  in  turn  on  pagoda  and  mosque,  Roman 


250  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Catholic  cathedral  and  Protestant  meeting-house, 
the  costly  temples  of  New  York  and  the  camp- 
meetings  in  Western  woods,  where  men  worship 

"In  that  fane,  most  catliolic  and  solemn, 
"Which  God  has  planned." 

Thus  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the 
world  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
when  the  whole  wide  earth  shall  be  the  temple  of 
the  Deity,  in 

"A  cathedi'al,  boundless  as  our  wonder; 
Whose  quenchless  lamps  the  sun  and  moon  supply; 
Its  choir  the  winds  and  waves;  its  organ  thunder; 
Its  dome  the  sky." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

INSPIRATION   AND    ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Inspiration  in  its  most  general  form.  §  2.  Different  kinds 
of  Inspiration.  §  3.  Religious  Inspiration.  §  4.  Inspiration 
of  the  Bible.  In  lower  Religions.  Inspiration  as  Frenzy. 
Possession  and  Self-possession.  §  5.  The  Bible  compared 
with  the  Vedas  and  Koran.  §  6.  Peculiarity  oi  the  Inspira- 
tion of  the  New  Testament.  §  7.  Art  the  child  of  Religion. 
Egyptian  Architecture.  §  8.  Buddhist  Architecture.  §  9. 
Jewish  and  Christian  Architecture.  §  10.  Mohammedan 
Art.  §  11.  Greek  Art.  §  12.  Religion  in  Painting  and 
Poetry. 

§  1.  Inspiration  in  its  most  general  form. 

"VTTE  begin  by  considering  inspiration  in  gen- 
^  eral.  Man  must  have  a  capacity  for  in- 
spiration, otherwise  he  could  not  be  inspired.  This 
is  a  human  faculty,  therefore  common  to  all.  There 
is  more  of  it  in  some  men  than  in  others ;  those 
who  have  the  most  of  the  faculty  are  prophets, 
seers,  or  men  of  genius.  Men  are  inspired  in  re- 
gard to  other  kinds  of  truth,  as  well  as  in  regard 
to  religious  truth.  Thus  we  speak  familiarly  of  an 
inspired  poet  or  an  inspired  artist.  Inspiration  in 
general  is  an  order,  of  which  religious  inspiration 
is  a  genus. 


252  TEN"    GREAT    RELIGIOIS'S. 

Inspiration,  considered  in  the  largest  sense,  is 
the  sight  of  inward  truth,  a  truth  which  is  seen 
within  the  mind,  in  distinction  from  the  truth 
which  comes  to  us  from  without  through  the 
senses.  All  our  knowledge  is  of  three  kinds :  that 
which  w^e  perceive  outwardly  through  the  senses ; 
that  which  we  perceive  inwardly  in  the  mind  itself 
through  consciousness  ;  and  that  which  being  thus 
taken  in,  is  worked  up  by  the  reflective  faculties. 
The  substance  of  all  truth  comes  to  us  from  with- 
out or  from  within ;  we  can  only  by  thinking  give 
it  more  distinct  form.  We  all  know  that  ideas 
come  to  us  from  within  the  mind,  without  any  ef- 
fort of  ours.  The  poet,  the  artist,  the  inventor, 
when  the  course  of  his  thoughts  is  checked  by 
some  obstacle,  stops,  waits,  looks  in,  looks  up,  for 
an  inspiration.  Many  of  our  best  thoughts  visit  us 
in  this  way  unexpectedly,  and  take  us  by  surprise. 
John  Locke,  certainly  no  enthusiast,  invented  a 
Common-place  Book,  and  advised  all  students  to 
keep  such  a  book.  He  said  that  they  ought  to 
write  down  in  it  the  ideas  which  came  to  them 
thus,  when  they  were  walking  or  conversing,  as 
these  were  often  the  best,  a  kind  of  seed  corn 
which  would  unfold  into  the  most  valuable  results. 
If  you  read  the  biographies  of  great  inventors,  dis- 
coverers, poets,  artists,  you  will  often  find  it  re- 
corded that  the  germinal  ideas  of  their  whole  life- 
work  fell  into  their  minds  in  this  way.     Thus  we 


mSPIRATION   AND    AIJT    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.      253 

may  say  that  not  only  Isaiah  and  Paul  were  in- 
spired to  teach  religious  truth,  but  that  Newton 
was  inspired  to  discover  the  law  of  gravitation, 
Phidias  to  carve  the  Olympian  Jupiter,  Colum- 
bus to  discover  America,  Cham  poll  ion  to  decipher 
Greek  hieroglyphics,  Milton  to  write  the  "  Para- 
dise Lost,"  and  Mrs.  Stowe  to  write  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin ;  "  for  "  every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
gift  cometh  down  from  above,  from  the  Father 
of  lights."  The  truths  seen  by  such  thinkers 
were  not  inventions  of  theirs,  but  were  realities 
shown  them  by  God. 

§  2.  Different  Kinds  of  Inspiration. 

What  then  is  the  difference  between  these  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  inspiration  ?  It  is  qualitative  and 
quantitative.  It  is  a  difference  of  kind  and  of  de- 
gree. It  differs  in  kind  according  to  the  subject 
which  occupies  a  man's  thought  and  in  which  he  is 
interested.  The  artist  is  interested  in  beauty  ;  the 
poet  and  musician  in  poetry  and  music ;  the  in- 
ventor in  his  invention,  and  each  finds  what  he  is 
looking;  for.  The  relig;ious  man  is  interested  in  re- 
ligious  truth,  and  to  him  that  truth  is  inwardly  re- 
vealed. The  poet  is  haunted  by  some  ideal  beauty 
which  he  struggles  to  seize  and  embody  in  suitable 
forms.  Columbus  is  haunted  by  the  vision  of  a 
continent  beyond  the  Western  ocean.  Newton 
sees  dawning  before  his  mind  the  approaching  sun, 


254  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

which  when  it  rises  is  to  reveal  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  outward  universe.  Neither  of  them  can 
verify  his  vision,  or  convince  others  of  its  reality, 
until  it  is  fully  made  known.  They  are  all  counted 
as  visionaries  till  then.  But  when,  by  faithful 
work,  the  law  of  gravitation  is  found,  the  play  of 
"  Hamlet "  written,  the  "  Divine  Comedy  "  finished, 
the  Parthenon  built,  the  electric  telegraph  dis- 
covered, when  the  Vedas  take  shape,  when  the 
prophecy  is  fulfilled,  then  the  visionary  suddenly 
appears  before  men  as  a  genius,  a  seer,  a  great 
discoverer,  a  divine  poet. 

§  3.  Religious  Inspiration. 

Among  these  inspirations  religious  inspiration  is 
the  highest,  the  most  far-reaching,  the  most  widely 
influential.  Such  inspirations  embody  themselves 
in  the  sacred  books  of  the  human  race,  the  Vedas, 
the  Zend-Avesta,  the  Koran.  These  constitute  an 
order  or  a  kingdom  by  themselves,  and  they  all 
seem  to  possess  an  immortal  life.  They  may 
greatly  differ  as  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
their  inspiration,  as  we  shall  directly  attempt  to 
show.  They  are  not  preserved  from  error  by  a 
miracle.  Sacred  books  are  not  necessarily  infalli- 
ble. But  they  live,  they  last,  because  they  hold 
some  truth  which  God  has  sent,  and  which  man 
needs. 

**  One  accent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
The  heedless  world  has  never  lost." 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     255 

Consider  that  the  Rig- Veda,  one  among  five 
Vedas,  contains  1017  hymns,  composed  from  1000 
to  1500  years  before  Christ,  and  preserved  during 
hundreds  of  years  by  being  committed  to  memory. 
Writing  seems  not  to  have  been  known  in  the 
Vedic  times.  It  was  the  regular  work  of  many 
men  to  commit  to  memory  every  Hne  of  the  Vedas 
and  recite  them  day  by  day.  This  habit  has  been 
maintained  to  the  present  time ;  and  there  are  to- 
day boys  in  India  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  old 
who  can  repeat  from  memory  the  whole  Veda. 
These  hymns  have  been  handed  down  by  tradition 
in  India  during  three  thousand  years.  Such  is 
the  power  over  the  human  soul  of  religious  inspi- 
ration. Wherever  it  comes  it  gives  perpetuity  to 
the  speech  of  man.  The  Bible  does  not  differ  from 
other  sacred  books  in  its  method  of  production. 
All  sacred  Scriptures  are  written  from  within,  from 
the  soul  moved  inwardly  by  a  sacred  spirit.  The 
poet  truly  says  :  — 

"  Out  from  the  heart  of  nature  rolled 
The  burdens  of  the  Bible  old; 
The  litanies  of  nations  came 
Like  the  volcano's  tongue  of  flame, 
Up  from  the  burning  core  below,  — 
The  canticles  of  love  and  woe." 

There  is  no  impropriety  in  placing  in  the  same 
class  all  the  works  which  are  thus  created  by  an 
inward  illumination.     The  architecture,  music,  and 


256  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

poetry,  which  last,  which  have  in  them  the  ele- 
ment of  immortality,  came  from  souls  inwardly 
open  to  some  heavenly  influence. 

"  Earth  proudly  wears  the  Parthenon 
As  the  best  gem  upon  her  zone, 
And  morning  opes  with  haste  her  lids 
To  gaze  upon  the  Pyramids. 
O'er  England's  abbeys  bends  the  sky 
As  on  its  friends  with  kindred  eye  — 
For  out  of  thought's  interior  sphere, 
These  wonders  rose  to  upper  air." 

§  4.  Inspiration  of  the  Bible,     In  lower  Religions.     In- 
sjjiration  as  Frenzy.     Possession  and  Self-possession. 

It  is  no  degradation  to  the  Bible  to  classify  it 
thus,  in  a  broad  way,  with  the  Parthenon  and  the 
Zend-Avesta.  There  is  still  a  wide  gulf  between 
them.  There  is  a  wide  gulf  between  man  and 
the  highest  inferior  animals,  and  yet  we  put  man 
amono;  the  mammalia,  in  the  same  class  with 
whales  and  elephants,  and  into  a  larger  division 
with  fishes.  He  is  not  degraded  by  being  thus 
classified,  for  he  constitutes  a  distinct  order  in  this 
class.  So  we  may  classify  inspired  works.  The 
same  class  includes  inspired  poems,  inventions,  dis- 
coveries ;  the  Parthenon,  Pyramids,  the  works  of 
Michael  Angelo,  of  Dante,  of  Raffaelle,  and  the  sa- 
cred books  of  all  nations.  One  order  in  that  class 
includes  all  the  works  of  religious  inspiration,  the 
Vedas,  the  Koran,  the  Suttas,  the  Kings  of  China, 
and  the  Bible.     One  genus  of  that  order  contains 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.     257 

the  Old  and  New  Testament,  each  of  which  again 
may  constitute  a  separate  species. 

Something  which  was  thought  to  be  rehgious 
inspiration  has  appeared  in  a  low  and  crude  form 
among  primitive  religions.  Its  chief  characteristic 
there  is  the  loss  of  self-consciousness  and  self-pos- 
session. Thus  the  Samoieds  of  Siberia  have  di- 
viners who  work  themselves  into  a  state  of  wild 
frenzy  before  delivering  their  oracles.  The  same 
notion  of  an  inspired  madness  appeared  in  the  in- 
sanity of  the  Pythian  priestess,  and  in  the  Greek 
diviners  who  fell  into  trances  in  which  they  lay 
without  sense  or  motion.  Plato  speaks  of  one 
Pamphilus  who  lay  ten  days  for  dead  on  the  field 
of  battle,  then  revived  when  about  to  be  put  on 
the  funeral  pile  and  related  what  he  had  seen  in 
the  three  worlds. 

This  same  notion  of  inspiration  as  a  kind  of  pos- 
session or  frenzy,  found  its  way  into  the  religion 
of  Greece,  where  it  is  seen  as  an  alien  element. 
It  appears  in  the  mad  dances  of  the  Bacchantes, 
and  the  shrieks  and  self -laceration  of  the  Coryban- 
tes.  In  the  Hindu  religion  we  find  it  in  the 
Yoga,  or  one  who  seeks  union  with  God  by  wholly 
withdrawing  himself  from  outward  things.  The 
Yoga  assumes  painful  positions  and  contortions  of 
the  limbs,  he  suppresses  his  breath,  and  performs 
other  incredible  mortifications. 

So  the  Greenlander,  in  his  freezing  climate,  has 

17 


258  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

bis  prophets,  whom  he  calls  Angekoks.  These  also 
abandon  the  converse  of  men,  fast  and  torture 
their  body,  and  remain  in  a  fixed  intensity  of 
thought,  till  they  believe  that  they  see  and  hear 
spirits.  The  Flatheads  of  Oregon,  the  Indians  of 
Brazil,  the  Zulus  of  Africa,  have  a  similar  belief  in 
an  inspiration  which  comes  from  fasting,  loneliness, 
and  self-torture.  We  read  in  the  Bible  of  the 
priests  of  Baal  who  cut  themselves  with  knives  to 
bring  down  an  answer  from  their  god.  We  know- 
how  Balaam  w^as  compelled  to  utter  an  involuntary 
prophecy. 

It  is  curious  to  see  in  our  time,  and  in  Christian 
countries,  the  revival  of  this  lowest  claim  to  inspi- 
ration, a  belief  in  a  blind,  helpless  possession  of 
the  soul  by  some  supernatural  power,  good  or  evil. 
Of  this  sort  are  the  effects  often  seen  in  the 
West  and  South  in  revival  meetings,  where  the 
convicted  sinner  falls  senseless  on  the  ground,  or  is 
seized  with  convulsions.  In  the  great  revivals  at 
the  beginning  of  this  centuiy  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  these  phenomena  took  the  name  of  "  the 
jerks."  The  limbs  of  persons  who  were  present 
and  indisposed  toward  the  revival  would  often  jerk 
violently  against  their  will,  and  this  was  supposed 
to  be  the  influence  of  the  spirit.  The  dancing  of 
the  Shakers  and  the  whirling  of  the  Mohammedan 
dervishes  belong  to  the  same  class  of  bodily  exer- 
cises, which,  according  to  St.  Paul,  profit  little. 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     259 

But  the  typical  inspiration  of  the  prophetic  re- 
ligions is  of  a  higher  kind.  The  Jewish  prophets 
controlled  and  directed  their  inspiration.  They 
were  inspired  from  on  high,  and  yet  self-possessed. 
The  intellect  was  lifted  to  greater  clearness,  armed 
with  a  more  powerful  logic,  concentrated  on  the 
important  argument,  and  enriched  with  lofty  and 
tender  images  of  beauty. 

§  5.   The  Bible  compared  with  the  Vedas  and  Koran. 

The  sacred  books  of  all  nations  are  full  of  high 
thoughts  and  noble  utterances.  Such  are  the 
Vedic  hymns,  the  liturgies  of  the  Zend-Avesta, 
the  moral  teachings  of  the  Buddhist  Pitakas,  the 
ballads  of  the  Eddas,  the  Suras  of  the  Koran,  the 
Psalms  of  David,  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  All  of 
them  have  the  same  qualities  of  clearness,  coher- 
ence, and  practical  purpose.  They  differ  greatly 
from  each  other  in  many  ways.  The  Vedic  hymns 
are  somewhat  monotonous  repetitions  of  praise 
and  adoration  to  the  deified  power  of  nature.  It 
was  seriously  proposed,  at  one  time,  by  some  of 
the  members  of  the  transcendental  school,  to  read 
these  Vedic  hymns  instead  of  the  Bible.  Probably 
those  who  made  the  suggestion  never  tried  the  ex- 
periment themselves.  Here  and  there  are  beauti- 
ful passages,  like  the  Hymn  to  Varuna  so  often 
quoted,  but  the  majority  of  these  thousand  hymns 
consist  of  endless  repetitions,  and  the  same  images 


260  TEN    GEE  AT   EELIGIONS. 

applied  first  to  one  and  then  to  another  of  the  ob- 
jects of  adoration.  The  Zend-Avesta  differs  from 
this  wearisome  monotony  in  some  respects.  Al- 
though there  is  also  a  vast  deal  of  repetition  in 
these  very  ancient  litanies,  they  come  nearer  to 
life,  to  men,  to  human  duty.  They  have  a  pure 
moral  inspiration  which  is  invigorating.  The  Bud- 
dhist scriptures  are  rather  ethical  essays,  and  con- 
sist of  a  multitude  of  directions  for  conduct,  and 
for  the  formation  of  character. 

The  Mohammedans  consider  the  Koran  to  have 
a  beauty  which  is  of  itself  a  sufficient  proof  of  the 
divine  authority  of  Mohammed.  But  it  is  not 
very  interesting  reading  to  the  Western  mind.  It 
is  badly  arranged,  obscure  in  some  parts,  trivial 
in  others.  "  To  us,"  says  Renan,  "  the  Koran 
appears  declamatory,  monotonous,  tedious."  Its 
merit  is  in  its  intense  earnestness,  reflecting  the 
various  experiences  of  its  author.  It  certainly  has 
exercised  a  great  fascination  over  the  mind  of  the 
East.  Comparing  it  with  the  Bible  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Koran  lays  claim  to  a  verbal  mechanical 
inspiration,  alike  in  every  part;  the  Bible,  as  is 
now  generally  recognized,  makes  no  such  claim. 
The  Koran  is  incapable  of  being  translated  and  re- 
taining its  beauty ;  the  Bible  loses  little  in  this 
process.  The  Bible  is  the  work  of  a  great  number 
of  authors,  poets,  prophets,  statesmen  ;  the  Koran 
comes  from   the    brain   of    a   sing^le   man.      The 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     261 

strength  of  the  Koran  is  m  its  nnity,  intolerance, 
and  narrowness ;  that  of  the  Bible  in  its  variety, 
breadth,  and  liberality.  One  of  the  Suras  of  the 
Koran  declares  that,  "  If  men  and  genii  should  try 
together  to  produce  a  book  like  the  Koran,  they 
would  fail."  To  which  Dean  Stanley  replies  by 
asking  whether  any  single  passage  in  the  book  can 
be  compared  with  Paul's  description  of  charity  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

But  let  us  do  what  justice  we  can  to  Mohammed 
by  selecting  some  of  his  best  sayings.  Here  is  one 
called  "  The  folding  up  :  "  — 

"  When  the  sun  shall  be  folded  up,  and  the  stars  shall 
fall,  and  the  mountains  be  put  in  motion,  and  the  seas 
boil,  and  the  leaves  of  the  book  be  unrolled,  and  the  heav- 
ens be  stripped  off  like  a  skin,  and  hell  begin  to  blaze, 
and  Paradise  draw  near,  then  shall  every  soul  know  what 
it  has  done." 

Or  this  description  of  the  infidel :  — 

"As  darkness  over  a  deep  sea,  billows  riding  on  bil- 
lows, billows  below  and  clouds  above,  —  one  darkness  on 
another  darkness,  —  so  that  if  a  man  stretches  out  his 
hand  he  cannot  behold  it,  thus  is  he  to  whom  the  light 
of  God  doth  not  come." 

The  very  intensity  of  the  Koran,  however,  shows 
a  survival  of  that  lower  order  of  inspiration  in 
which  a  man  is  possessed  by  his  idea,  and  does  not 
fully  possess  it.    The  peculiarity  of  the  New  Testa- 


262  TEIf    GEEAT    KELIGIOJ^S. 

ment  inspiration  is  that  the  spirit  of  the  prophet  is 
entirely  subject  to  the  prophet.  In  one  particu- 
lar alone  was  early  Christianity  a  kind  of  spiritual 
possession ;  I  mean  what  was  called  the  gift  of 
tongues.  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  de- 
scribes and  strongly  condemns  a  state  of  things 
resemblino;  the  excitement  at  the  revival  meet- 
ings  to  which  we  have  before  referred.  ^'If  when 
the  church  come  together  you  all  speak  with 
tongues  and  there  comes  in  an  unbeliever,  will  he 
not  say  you  are  mad  ?  "  "1  had  rather  speak  five 
words  with  my  understanding  than  ten  thousand 
in  a  tongue,"  "  for  God  is  not  the  God  of  confu- 
sion but  of  peace."  But  this  peculiar  ecstatic  state 
soon  passed  away,  and  passed  away  so  entirely  that 
no  one  can  now  say  exactly  what  it  was. 

§  6.  Peculiarity  of  the  Inspiration  of  the  Neio  Testament. 

The  calm  clearness  of  the  New  Testament,  its 
union  of  profound  spiritual  insight  with  perfect 
simplicity  of  expression,  almost  disguises  its  inspi- 
ration. It  is  only  when  we  see  how  deep,  rich, 
full  are  its  utterances ;  see  how  they  satisfy  us 
always  and  never  tire,  that  we  begin  to  recognize 
from  what  a  deep  place  in  the  soul  they  must  have 
come.  Take  the  letters  of  Paul,  written  from  time 
to  time,  to  one  and  another  church,  as  occasion 
prompted.  They  were  written  with  no  notion  of 
publicity  3    once  read  he  probably  thought  they 


INSPIRATION    AND    ART    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.     263 

would  never  be  heard  of  again.  And  yet  what 
wealth  of  thoiigjht  is  in  them,  what  aflluent  ori*''i- 
nahty  of  language,  what  condensed  fire,  what 
charm  of  imagination.  They  have  the  careless 
abandon  and  absence  of  method  which  belonics  to 
letter-writing.  There  is  no  plan ;  one  thought 
suQ-orests  another.  It  occurred  to  him  as  he  wrote 
that  several  persons  in  the  church  at  Corinth  did 
not  believe  in  any  resurrection,  therefore  he  gives 
his  view,  his  reasons,  and  his  explanation  of  the 
mysterious  hereafter,  as  he  saw  it  in  the  depths  of 
his  soul.  Little  did  he  suppose  that  those  hasty 
words  would  be  read  century  after  century  by  the 
side  of  thousands  of  open  graves,  and  would  comfort 
the  hearts  of  such  a  vast  multitude  of  mourners. 
Sometimes  he  seems  almost  carried  away  by  the 
rush  of  thought,  but  no  touch  of  obscurity  comes 
in  consequence.  It  is  tire  without  smoke.  Thus 
he  describes  the  work  of  his  life  :  — 

"  Approving  ourselves  in  all  things  as  God's  servants ; 
in  much  patience,  in  afflictions,  in  necessities,  in  dis- 
tresses, in  strifes,  in  imprisonments,  in  tumults,  in  labors, 
in  watchings,  in  fastings ;  by  pureness,  by  knowledge,  by 
long-suffering,  by  kindness,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  lovo 
unfeigned,  by  the  word  of  truth,  by  the  power  of  God, 
by  the  armor  of  righteousness  on  the  right  hand  and  the 
left,  by  honor  and  dishonor,  by  evil  report  and  good 
report;  as  deceivers,  and  yet  true;  as  unknown,  and  yet 
well-known  ;  as  dying,  and  behold  we  live  ;  as  chastened, 
and  not  killed ;   as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;   as 


264  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

poor,  yet  making  many  rich ;  as  having  nothing,  and  yet 
possessing  all  things." 

Paul  seems  a  little  surprised  himself  at  this  rapid 
flow  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings.  He  adds  :  '^  0 
Corinthians,  my  mouth  is  open  to  you,  my  heart  is 
enlarged."  But  I  have  quoted  this  passage,  not 
for  its  unsurpassed  eloquence,  but  as  illustrating 
the  peculiar  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament, 
by  which  every  human  faculty  seems  sharpened, 
thought  quickened,  language  exalted.  Every  one 
of  these  clauses  might  be  analyzed  and  expanded 
into  a  chapter,  each  is  so  compact  with  mean- 
ing. 

The  result  of  this  comparison  is  that  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Vedas  is  the  expression  of  the  Divine 
element  in  nature,  its  glory,  beauty,  power,  benef- 
icence. The  inspiration  of  the  Avesta  is  the  per- 
ception of  the  Divine  strength  of  a  righteous  cause 
in  conflict  with  evil,  or  "  the  jDOwer  not  ourselves 
wdiich  makes  for  righteousness."  The  inspiration 
of  the  Buddhist  sacred  books  is  the  contemplation 
of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  by  which  every  tree 
must  bear  its  own  fruit,  and  by  which  virtue  is 
carried  up  higher  and  wickedness  sent  down  lower, 
according  to  inflexible  natural  laws.  The  inspira- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  vision  of  an  Om- 
nipotent, Omniscient,  and  All-good  Ruler,  whose 
providence  guides  all  men  and  all  things,  and  in 
whom  every  good  man  is  safe,  and  every  good  life 


INSPIKATIOJq^   AXD   ART    IN   ALL    EELIGIOXS.     265 

sure  to  be  blessed.  Here  the  personal  relation  be- 
tween God  and  his  child  begins  to  come  in.  This 
gives  its  heavenly  charm  to  the  Book  of  Psalms, 
their  sublime  majesty  to  the  strains  of  the  prophets. 
And  the  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament  is  in 
the  consciousness  of  a  Divine  life  in  the  soul,  of 
intimate  and  constant  union  with  the  Perfect  Love, 
w^iich  unites  the  highest  being  in  the  universe 
with  the  humblest  child.  Higher  than  this  it  can- 
not go,  for  this  is  the  fullness  of  Him  who  fills  all 
in  all. 

§  7.  Art  the  child  of  Religion.     Egyptian  architecture. 

We  will  now  pass  on  to  consider  Art  in  all  relig- 
ions. Art  itself,  in  all  its  methods,  is  the  child  of 
religion.  The  highest  and  best  works  in  architec- 
ture, sculpture,  and  painting,  poetry  and  music, 
have  been  born  out  of  the  relio;ious  nature.  The 
most  sublime  structures  in  all  times  and  in  all  lands 
have  been  temples  to  the  unseen  powers. 

Some  four  or  five  thousand  years  have  passed 
since  the  Pyramids  were  erected,  and  they  are  still 
the  grandest  architectural  work  ever  accomplished 
by  the  genius  of  man.  Through  all  these  centu- 
ries they  have  declared  his  faith  in  an  invisible 
world ;  they  stand  as  records  of  his  belief  in  im- 
mortality and  in  a  resurrection.  As  they  now  rise, 
rude  and  disjointed,  stripped  of  their  casing,  they 
still  give  the  impression  of  indestructible  solidity. 


266  TEN"    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

These  artificial  mountains,  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
sandy  African  23lains,  have  a  mountainous  grandeur. 
What  must  they  have  been,  when  their  sides  were 
covered  from  base  to  summit  with  poHshed  blocks 
of  granite  fitted  so  exactly  that  the  blade  of  a  pen- 
knife could  not  penetrate  the  lines  of  juncture,  and 
their  polished  surfaces  wholly  covered  with  inscrip- 
tions and  carved  with  sculpture.  Loftier  than  the 
highest  spire  of  Europe,  the  Great  Pyramid  widened 
out  into  a  still  more  enormous  base,  containing  ten 
millions  of  cubic  yards  of  stone,  enough  to  build  a 
wall  two  feet  thick  and  six  feet  hio;li  from  Boston 
to  San  Francisco.  The  interior  is  equally  astonish- 
ing from  the  mechanical  skill  displayed  in  its  con- 
struction. An  eminent  architect,  Mr.  Fergusson, 
says :  — 

"Nothing  can  be  more  wonderful  than  the  knowledge 
displayed  in  the  discharging  chambers  over  the  rooms 
of  the  principal  apartment,  to  throw  off  the  crushing 
weight  of  stone  above;  in  the  exact  slopes  of  the  gal- 
leries ;  the  provision  of  ventilating  shafts ;  all  so  pre- 
cisely arranged  that  notwithstanding  the  immense  super- 
incumbent weight,  no  settlement  can  anywhere  be  detected 
to  the  extent  of  an  appreciable  fraction  of  an  inch." 

By  the  side  of  the  Pyramids  stands  the  colossal 
Sphinx,  of  the  same  period,  carved  of  solid  rock, 
an  enormous  statue  ninety  feet  long  and  seventy- 
four  high,  image  of  a  funereal  god,  the  genius  of 
the  setting  sun.     "It  seems,"  says  Ampere,  "like 


INSPHLITION"   AND   ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     267 

an  eternal  spectre.  This  stone  phantom  appears 
attentive ;  one  would  say  it  hears  and  sees.  Its 
great  ear  collects  the  sounds  of  the  past ;  its  eyes, 
directed  to  the  East,  gaze  into  the  future ;  an  image 
of  perfect  calm,  contemplating  the  unchangeable 
in  the  midst  of  all  change." 

The  Labyrinth,  described  by  Herodotus,  and 
fifteen  hundred  years  after  by  Lepsius,  was  as 
enormous  a  work  as  the  Pyramids.  It  contained 
three  thousand  chambers  of  stone,  with  vast  courts 
and  ranges  of  columns,  and  was  a  vast  catacomb 
for  dead  princes  and  priests. 

The  ruins  of  the  sacred  city  of  Thebes  are  still 
so  imposing  that  the  French  army  under  Desaix, 
pursuing  the  Mamelukes,  in  want  of  everything, 
without  food,  fainting  with  the  heat,  no  sooner  got 
sight  of  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  than  they  forgot  their 
sufferings  and  their  dangerous  enemy,  and  began 
to  clap  their  hands  with  delight.  "  Imagination," 
says  Champollion,  "  sinks  with  awe  before  the  one 
hundred  and  forty  colossal  columns  of  the  Temple 
of  Karnak."  "  Conceive,"  says  Ampere,  "  a  forest 
of  towers,  each  as  large  as  that  in  the  centre  of 
the  Place  Vendome,  eleven  feet  in  diameter,  the 
capitals  sixty-five  feet  in  circumference,  seventy 
feet  hi":h,  each  as  laro;e  as  the  trunk  of  an  enor- 
mous  tree,  in  a  hall  three  hundred  and  nineteen 
feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  wide,  entirely 
roofed  over  with  stone,  and  all  the  surface  carved 


268  TEN  GKEAT  religio:n'S. 

with  sculpture."  And  this  vast  interior  is  only 
one  building  in  a  city  of  temples,  arcades,  ave- 
nues of  sphinxes,  and  colossal  statues.  The  Tem- 
ple of  Karnak  itself  is  twelve  hundred  feet  long,' 
and  three  hundred  and  sixty  wide,  twice  the  area 
of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  "  one  of  the  largest,"  says 
Fergusson,  "  as  well  as  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
world."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  in  its  beauty,  its 
massiveness  of  form,  wonderful  lights  and  shadows, 
and  brilliancy  of  decoration,  it  is  the  greatest  archi- 
tectural work  of  man. 

§  8.  Buddhist  Architecture. 

If  we  pass  from  Egypt  to  Asia  we  find  the  most 
extraordinary  and  beautiful  works  of  architecture, 
as  the  direct  product  of  the  Buddhist  religion. 
Though  described  as  atheism,  it  has,  built  some 
of  the  grandest  temples  for  the  worship  of  God ; 
though  said  to  have  no  belief  in  a  future  life,  its 
dagobas,  or  shrines  of  saints,  are  innumerable,  and 
covered  with  exquisite  carvings ;  though  accused 
of  denying  the  existence  of  the  soul,  its  monaster- 
ies for  the  devotional  life  of  anchorites,  carved 
out  of  solid  rock,  are  older  than  the  coming  of 
Christ. 

One  Buddhist  temple  in  Java,  that  of  Boro  Bud- 
dor,  is  a  pyramid,  rising  in  nine  terraces,  covered 
with  carved  spires  and  cupolas  of  various  forms, 
the  chief  of  which  cover  four  hundred  and  thirty- 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     2G0 

six  niches,  occupied  by  as  many  statues  of  Buddha, 
as  large  as  life.  Between  these  are  numerous  bas- 
reliefs,  and  below  them,  on  the  lower  story,  is  an 
immense  bas-relief,  sixteen  hundred  feet  long,  run- 
ning round  the  whole  building,  and  representing 
scenes  from  the  life  of  Buddha.  All  these  are  on 
the  outside,'  but  the  inner  faces  of  the  five  ranges 
of  buildings  are  still  more  profusely  and  minutely 
ornamented  with  figures  and  carvings,  to  an  extent 
(says  Fergusson,  from  whom  this  account  is  taken) 
unrivaled  by  any  other  buildings  in  any  part  of 
the  world.  Not  far  off  is  a  group  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  temples,  all  richly  ornamented,  in  every 
one  of  which  was  a  seated  carved  fio-ure. 

This  Buddhist  architecture  extends  over  all  of 
eastern  Asia.  It  early  assumed  the  three  forms  of 
topes  or  pagodas,  which  are  lofty  buildings  con- 
taining the  relics  of  Buddhist  saints ;  monasteries, 
some  of  which  are  so  large  as  to  contain  ten  thou- 
sand or  twenty  thousand  monks ;  and  temples,  for 
worship.  These  buildings  are  found  in  India,  Cey- 
lon, Burmah,  Thibet,  Tartary,  China,  Japan,  and 
every  other  Buddhist  country,  and  go  back  for 
their  beginning  to  two  or  three  centuries  before 
Christ.  As  soon  as  the  religion  was  well  estab- 
lished, its  peculiar  architecture  sprang  up.  Every 
great  religion  has  produced  its  own  special  type  of 
architecture.  The  style  of  ancient  Egypt  is  mas- 
sive I  its  idea  is  undecaying  immortality.    The  idea 


270  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

of  the  Buddhist  is  of  sacred  shrines,  tombs  lifted 
into  the  air,  so  that  the  worshippers  might  look  up 
at  the  pagoda,  in  which  were  contained  the  holy 
relics.  The  Greek  temples  were  for  a  worship  of 
display :  visible  pageants,  not  dark  interiors  for 
hidden  mysteries  as  in  Egypt ;  but  lovely  faQades, 
where  the  spirit  of  intellectual  beauty  is  made 
manifest,  where  every  apparently  straight  line  is 
tenderly  curved  to  satisfy  the  fastidious  Hellenic 
eye ;  where  proportion,  measure,  restraint,  unity, 
show  to  us  art  at  the  highest  point  ever  reached 
on  earth,  —  the  glory  of  Greece,  and  the  despair  of 
the  rest  of  mankind.  But  the  Greek  temples  took 
their  form  from  the  nature  of  the  religion,  which 
was  one  of  festivals  and  out-door  ceremonies.  The 
exterior  was  everything,  the  interior  a  mere  cell 
to  contain  the  priestly  apparatus,  or  at  most  a 
chamber  for  an  imaare.  The  colonnades  around 
the  Parthenon  were  for  the  purpose  of  an  ambula- 
tory, where  on  festivals  the  processions  marched 
round  and  round  between  the  columns,  appearing 
and  disappearing  to  the  eyes  of  the  people  gazing 
,up  from  below.  Such  was  the  Parthenon  and  the 
Temple  of  Jupiter  at  Athens,  the  latter  having 
two  rows  of  columns  and  two  aisles  along  its  sides, 
three  rows  of  columns  on  the  back  and  four  rows 
in  front. 


INSPIRATION    AND    ART    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.     271 

§  9.  Jewish  and  Christian  Architecture. 

The  object  of  the  Jewish  temple  was  entirely 
different,  and  consequently  its  magnificent  archi- 
tecture was  wholly  opposed  in  style  to  that  of 
Greece.  The  Hellenic  worship  was  visible  wor- 
ship, to  be  seen  by  all ;  so  its  decorations  were  on 
the  outside  of  the  temple. 

The  Jewish  worship  was  exclusive ;  therefore, 
thick  and  high  walls  of  stone  surrounded  the  tem- 
ple, with  gates  so  massive  that  it  took  twenty  men 
to  open  and  close  them  every  morning  and  even- 
ing. The  beautiful  colonnades  and  gates  were  all 
inclosed  within  this  wall,  so  that  the  building^  was 
in  fact  a  fortress,  and  so  defensible  that  it  resisted 
the  assaults  of  the  Roman  eno;ines  Ions:  after  the 
rest  of  the  city  was  taken.  Even  the  outer  court 
of  the  Gentiles,  further  than  which  they  might  not 
penetrate  under  pain  of  death,  was  thus  shut  in ; 
and  the  courts  of  the  Jews,  of  the  women,  of  the 
priests,  and  the  holy  place  itself,  were  surrounded 
by  other  walls.  An  exclusive  holiness  was  the 
type  of  this  style  of  architecture. 

The  pointed  or  Gothic  architecture  of  the  middle 
ages  sprang  up  in  like  manner  out  of  the  character 
of  Christian  worship.  The  Greek  temples  were 
beautiful  without,  to  be  seen  by  all  men.  The 
Jewish  were  glorious  within,  for  the  exclusive  wor- 
ship of  a  chosen  people.      Those  of  Egypt  were 


272  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

significant  of  mysteries,  and  to  their  dark  interiors 
only  the  initiated  were  admitted.  But  Christian- 
ity, whose  nature  it  was  to  fulfill  in  itself  all  forms 
of  righteousness,  built  its  cathedrals  beautiful  both 
without  and  within.  The  exterior,  in  which  the 
perpendicular  line  predominates,  indicated  the  as- 
piration of  all  human  souls  to  heaven.  The  inte- 
rior, whose  lofty  aisles  and  domes  sheltered  with 
protecting  roof  the  worshippers,  spoke  of  the  di- 
vine love  which  bends  around  every  trusting  heart 
to  comfort  and  bless.  The  stained  glass  admitted 
the  common  light  of  day,  but  made  it  speak,  as  it 
passed  in  through  saintly  forms,  of  a  Christian  ho- 
liness, given  to  lighten  every  man  who  comes  into 
the  world.  Thus  Christian  ideas  created  a  new 
style  of  art,  before  unknown,  and  which  no  one 
could  have  predicted  before  it  arrived.  In  one  or 
two  centuries  it  covered  Europe  with  the  marvel- 
ous beauty  of  its  *  vthedrals,  as  in  Antwerp,  Co- 
logne, Strasburg,  I^  iiurg  in  Belgium  and  Ger- 
many ;  at  Pisa  and  Milan  in  Italy ;  Salisbury, 
Canterbury,  and  Yc.  in  England  ;  and  in  many 
other  like  examples. 

§  10.  Mohammedan  Art. 

Perhaps,  however,  thore  is  no  more  striking  ex- 
ample of  tl  .  power  of  a  new  faith  to  create  a 
wholly  new  style  of  art  than  in  the  case  of  Mo- 
hammedanism.    The  sudden  rise  and  rapid  spread 


inspiratio:n"  and  art  in  all  religions.    273 

of  Islam  is  one  of  the  most  startling  events  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  In  one  or  two  centuries  this 
great  wave  swept  from  Arabia  westward  across 
^^rica  to  the  Atlantic,  rolling  on  in  a  flood  of  con- 
quest into  Spain,  and  to  the  east  pushing  over 
Syria  and  Persia  into  India  and  Turkistan.  And 
out  of  this  movement  came  a  new  form  of  civiliza- 
tion, new  inventions  and  discoveries,  a  new  litera- 
ture, and  finally  new  forms  of  art.  Especially  the 
Saracenic  architecture  extended  itself  from  India 
on  the  east  to  western  Spain,  carrying  all  its  pe- 
culiarities, its  delicate  forms,  exquisite  tracery, 
lofty  minarets,  egg-shaped  or  bulb-shaped  domes, 
and  long  arcades.  Being  as  exclusive  a  religion  as 
that  of  the  Jews,  it  usually  confined  its  ornaments 
to  the  interior,  and  had  vast  courts  within  for  its 
worshippers.  The  numerous  domes  of  this  style 
seem  to  symbolize  the  protecting  dome  of  sky, 
type  of  the  unity  of  God  in  it^  vast,  undivided  ex- 
panse, its  infinite  depth  and"  ll-surrounding  pres- 
ence. The  minarets  exprc  the  perpetual  declar- 
ation of  faith  in  one  God  a^  his  prophet,  and  its 
call  on  all  people  to  recc  his  teaching.  The 
whole  architecture  shows  uue  combined  activity, 
poetic  tendency,  and  quick,  light  movements  of 
the  Saracenic  races.  •  - 

Thus  is  art  the  child  of  religion,  e  ery  form  of 
religion  producing  its  own  form  of  art,  for 

18 


274  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

"  Out  of  thought's  interior  sphere 
These  wonders  rose  to  upper  air." 

So  sculpture,  appearing  first  on  the  walls  of 
Egyptian  temples,  passed  into  Greece,  and  in  that 
human  religion,  where  all  the  gods  were  men  and 
women,  created  its  marvelous  statues.  At  Athens 
rose  the  colossal  form  of  the  divine  virgin  Pallas- 
Athene,  carved  of  gold  and  ivory.  Tranquil  se- 
renity, serious  purpose,  self-conscious  power  and 
clear-siorhted  intellect  were  the  characteristics  of 
this  goddess,  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Atheni- 
ans that  they  chose  such  a  pure  being  for  the 
guardian  of  their  city.  Still  more  wonderful  was 
the  Phidian  Jupiter  at  Olympia,  whose  majesty 
was  such  that  it  was  an  event  in  life  to  have  seen 
it,  and  not  to  have  seen  it  before  death  one  of  the 
greatest  of  calamities. 

§  11.   Greek  Art. 

It  has  hardly  been  noticed  that  the  elevated 
character  of  the  Greek  religion  is  due,  not  to  the 
poets,  but  to  the  sculptors  and  philosophers.  Ho- 
mer and  Hesiod  were  severely  blamed  by  the  more 
serious  Greeks,  for  presenting  the  deities  as  often 
frivolous  and  sometimes  immoral.  Such  gods  as 
they  described,  were  hardly  objects  of  reverence. 
The  Greeks  had  no  sacred  books  and  no  prophets ; 
instead  of  sacred  books  they  had  their  wonderful 
statues  ;  instead  of  prophets,  such  teachers  as  Soc- 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     275 

rates  and  Plato.  The  dialogues  of  Plato  were  the 
real  Bible  of  the  Athenians.  But  how  elevating 
must  have  been  the  impression  made  by  the  noble 
statues  of  the  gods,  in  which  there  is  nothing  triv- 
ial, nothing  impure  ;  which  are  calm,  wise,  serene, 
benignant.  Each  of  the  gods  seems  to  have  a  typ- 
ical expression  of  face  and  form,  significant  of 
mental  and  moral  elevation.  The  Olympian  Zeus 
took  its  highest  form  in  the  soul  of  Phidias.  All 
succeeding  artists  followed  the  type  which  he  cre- 
ated, the  leonine  masses  of  hair,  falling  grandly  on 
either  side  of  the  face,  the  calm  brow,  the  wide- 
open  eyes  full  of  contemplation  and  authority,  the 
delicate  gentleness  of  the  cheek  and  lip,  the  full 
beard  with  wavy  tresses,  the  large  chest,  dignified 
and  expressing  at  once  power  and  benignant  will. 
How  much  higher  is  this  than  Homer's  Zeus  who 
vaunts  himself  strong  enough  to  lift  the  gods  and 
the  world  by  mere  physical  force.  Here,  Demeter, 
Pallas,  and  Artemis  were  types  of  the  same  kind, 
all  indicating  noble  purity  of  soul.  Here,  or  Juno, 
is  a  queen  and  mother,  uniting  majesty  and  unfad- 
ing bloom,  a  matron  always  young,  to  whom  all 
kinds  of  evil  are  abhorrent.  The  best  expression 
of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  colossal  head  in  the  Lu- 
dovisi  villa.  The  Greeks  must  have  learned  from 
her  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  mothers  to  keep 
the  state  pure.  Demeter,  whom  the  Romans  called 
Ceres,  shows  the  kind  womanly  heart  which  goes 


276  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

out  in  sympathy  with  the  children  of  men.  She 
is  the  goddess  softened  by  suffering,  who  seeks 
her  lost  daughter  through  the  earth.  This  was  a 
type  of  character  very  interesting  to  the  mind  of 
antiquity,  shown  also  in  the  sad  Isis  searching  for 
the  remains  of  the  dead  Osiris.  The  sculptors 
gave  still  another  variation  of  this  theme  of  wom- 
anly purity  in  Artemis  (or  Diana),  the  goddess 
living  in  the  depths  of  shady  woods,  vowed  to 
chaste  seclusion.  This  conception  was  developed 
by  the  sculptors  Scopas  and  Praxiteles.  Hers  is 
one  of  the  few  Greek  statues  representing  rapid 
motion.  She  seems  like  moonlio-ht  flashins:  amono- 
the  leaves,  an  untouched,  inaccessible  goddess,  sep- 
arated from  human  passions  or  worldly  desires. 
Her  brother  Phoebus  resembles  her,  in  the  liirht, 
youthful  form  of  the  limbs.  He  is  god  of  the  joy- 
ful spring-time,  type  of  health  and  order,  who  pu- 
rifies the  soul  by  music,  who  represents  genius  and 
inspiration,  as  Dionusos  stands  for  geniality  and 
excitement. 

Another  celestial  form,  the  creation  of  these  in- 
spired artists,  was  that  of  Pallas- Athene,  the  no- 
ble virgin,  a  defender  against  evil,  the  guardian  of 
her  well-beloved  city.  In  her  form  and  face  pu- 
rity was  confirmed  by  wisdom.  Clear  intelligence 
looked  out  of  her  eyes ;  and  she  was  the  wise  pro- 
tector of  all  who  carry  on  useful  arts  with  discre- 
tion.   In  Here,  the  Greeks  expressed  woman's  nat- 


INSPIRATION   AND    ART    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.     277 

iiral  hostility  to  vice  ;  in  Pallas  they  showed  her 
natural  love  of  peaceful  and  useful  activity.  Thus 
we  may  say  that  these  inspired  artists  created  the 
highest  form  of  Greek  religion,  and  kept  always 
before  the  eyes  of  a  worshipping  people  the  divine 
attributes  of  purity,  wisdom,  serene  benignity,  and 
noble  elevation  of  soul.  What  the  philosophers  did 
to  lead  upward  the  minds  of  the  thoughtful,  the 
sculptors  accomplished  for  the  mass  of  the  Greek 
people. 

Of  Greek  painting  we  know  very  little.  The 
names  only  of  such  artists  as  Zeuxis  and  Apelles 
have  come  down  to  us,  with  some  little  description 
of  their  peculiar  styles.  Apelles  claimed  for  him- 
self grace  as  his  special  merit,  and  hence  must  have 
been  the  Raffaelle  of  antiquity.  The  earlier  paint- 
ers, Polygnotus  and  his  contemporaries,  had  more 
religious  depth  and  simplicity,  and  so  must  have 
resembled  Fra  Angelico  and  the  Pre-Raffaelites, 
but  like  these  were  ignorant  of  the  technicalities  of 
art.  What  the  Greeks  called  skiagraphy,  and  the 
moderns  chiaro-oscuro,  came  later.  But  in  Zeuxis 
and  the  later  artists,  who  had  all  these  secrets  of 
shade  and  color,  Aristotle  missed  the  "  ethos  "  or 
moral  tone  of  the  earlier  school,  just  as  we  miss  it 
in  the  successors  of  Fra  Angelico. 


278  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

§  12.  Religion  in  Painting  and  Poetry. 

"We  know  well  how  much  the  painters  of  Italy 
and  Germany  have  done  for  religion,  and  how 
much  it  has  done  for  them.  The  best  inspiration 
of  Michael  Angelo  and  Raffaelle  are  seen  in  their 
great  religious  subjects.  The  sublimity  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  the  inspiration  of  the  one,  the  ten- 
derness of  the  Gospels  gave  spiritual  life  to  the 
work  of  the  other.  Who  that  has  seen  the  won- 
ders of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  or  has  studied  the  fine 
engravings  from  the  Prophets  and  Sibyls  in  our 
art  museums,  but  has  better  understood  the  sol- 
emn souls  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  ?  Michael  An- 
gelo has  brought  together,  side  by  side,  the  two 
kinds  of  heavenly  insight,  as  shown  in  man  and 
woman.  Study  the  Prophets  and  the  Sibyls  ;  and 
you  find  in  one  more  of  fire,  in  the  other  more  of 
calm  ;  in  the  Prophets  majestic  energy  of  will,  in 
the  Sibyls  a  greater  depth  of  human  sympathy ; 
insight  in  one  turns  to  wisdom  in  the  other.  And 
passing  from  these  to  Raffaelle,  beside  the  angelic 
grace  of  his  forms,  we  see  in  the  unfathomable 
eyes  of  the  infant  Jesus  a  vision  of  a  higher  world 
than  this,  —  a  Kingdom  of  Heaven  above  us  and 
yet  near. 

Poetry  also  received  at  first  its  inspiration  from 
religion.  It  soared  upward  to  Heaven  in  the  Vedic 
hymns,  the  litanies  of  the  Avesta,  the  poems  to  the 


INSPIRATION   AND   ART   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.      279 

gods  carved  on  the  Egyptian  temples,  the  Psahns 
of  David,  and  the  subUme  strains  of  the  book  of 
Job.  In  Greece  nearly  all  the  poetry  was  con- 
nected with  religion,  as  the  hymns  of  Hesiod  and 
Homer,  the  odes  of  Pindar,  and  the  great  Dramas. 
In  modern  times  two  of  the  greatest  poets,  Dante 
and  Milton,  have  been  controlled  by  a  religious  in- 
spiration. And  how  powerful  to  move,  to  soften, 
to  uplift  the  soul,  has  been  the  hymnal  of  Chris- 
tendom. It  has  accompanied  Christianity  from  the 
beginning,  from  the  time  when  Paul  told  the  disci- 
ples to  sing  together  in  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  down  through  the  hymns  of  the 
middle  ages,  the  "  Dies  irse.  Dies  ilia,"  hymns  to 
the  Virgin,  hymns  to  the  Spirit,  those  of  Luther, 
Watts,  Wesley,  and  all  the  others  whose  strains 
constitute  so  large  a  part  of  our  worship,  making 
the  true  church  catholic  and  universal. 

Thus  in  all  times  the  highest  inspiration  is  born 
out  of  religion.  It  works  by  a  half-unconscious 
power,  creating  a  new  heaven,  of  beauty  and  a  new 
earth  of  sweetness  and  charm.  In  all  ages,  enter- 
ing into  holy  souls,  it  has  made  of  them  prophets 
of  beauty  and  sublimity  to  their  race.  Not  con- 
fined to  Christianity,  religion  has  had  prophets 
since  the  world  began,  and  has  not  been  without 
its  witness  in  every  land  on  which  God  smiles. 
One  interior  light,  it  enters  every  waiting  soul,  and 
enables  it  to  do  some  good  work ;  something  to 
help  or  bless  the  human  race. 


280  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 


I 

CHAPTER  X. 

ETHICS   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  The  moral  sentiment  in  man.  First  element;  the  idea  of 
Right  and  Wrong.  §  2.  Second  element;  knowledge  of 
what  is  ri^ht  and  wrong.  Third  element :  Habits  of  virtue. 
§  3.  The  basis  of  Ethics  immutable.  Primal  convictions. 
Truth  and  Love.  The  place  of  utility  in  ethics.  §  4.  Manly 
and  womanly  virtues.  §  5.  Morality  among  primitive  races. 
§  6.  The  races  of  Africa.  §  7.  Development  of  moral  impulse 
in  character.  Romans  and  Greeks.  Socrates.  The  Stoics. 
§  8.  Ethics  of  Buddhism.  §  9.  Ethics  in  ancient  Egypt. 
The  oldest  book  of  the  world.  §  10.  Influence  of  Religion 
on  Morality. 

§  1.  The  moral  sentiment  in  man.    First  element;  the  Idea 

of  Might  and  Wrong. 

"|V /TY  purpose  in  the  present  chapter  is  to  speak 
■^-^  of  moraUty  and  ethics  in  all  reHgions.  I  shall 
treat,  first,  of  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  among 
the  primitive  races.  Secondly,  of  the  same  ideas 
as  taught  in  the  ethnic  religions.  Thirdly,  as  they 
are  taught  in  the  monotheistic  religions,  and  nota- 
bly in  Christianity. 

But  before  entering  on  this  discussion,  we  must 
understand  what  morality  is.    Man  is  a  moral  being 


ETHICS   IN  ALL   RELIGIONS.  281 

because  he  possesses  a  moral  sentiment,  moral  ideas, 
and  a  moral  power.  The  moral  sentiment  is  the 
sense  of  right  and  wrong,  producing  the  feeling  of 
duty  and  obligation.  Moral  ideas  consist  in  the 
belief  that  certain  acts  are  right,  and  others  wrong. 
Moral  j)Ower  is  the  ability  to  do  what  is  right,  and 
to  refuse  to  do  what  is  wrong. 

Let  us  consider  any  moral  act,  and  see  how  these 
three  elements  enter  into  it.  A  poor  and  hungry 
boy  sees  a  loaf  of  bread  in  an  open  window.  He 
is  strongly  urged  by  hunger  to  take  it.  But  he 
knows  that  it  is  wrong  to  take  what  does  not  be- 
lono"  to  him  ;  he  feels  that  he  oug;ht  not  to  do  what 
he  knows  or  believes  to  be  wrong ;  he,  therefore, 
puts  forth  an  effort  and  goes  away,  resisting  the 
temptation. 

This  example  will  stand  as  a  type  of  every 
moral  act  of  which  men  or  angels  are  capable. 
Into  every  such  action  these  three  elements  of 
feeling,  thought,  and  will  must  enter.  Omit 
either,  and  there  would  be  no  morality. 

In  the  case  just  cited  there  was  a  strong  tempta- 
tion, and  a  strons;  effort  of  the  will  to  resist  the 
temptation.  This,  however,  is  not  essential  to  a 
moral  action.  The  highest  form  of  morality  is 
that  in  which  no  effort  is  required  to  do  right; 
when  right-doing  has  become  a  part  of  the  nature. 
It  requires  a  great  effort  in  a  miser  to  give  a  small 
sum  to  a  starving  child.     It  requires  no  effort  in  a 


282  TEN    GREAT    RELIGION'S. 

benevolent  man  to  give  his  whole  income  to  good 
objects,  for  he  finds  his  best  pleasure  in  so  doing. 
There  is  more  merit  in  the  first  instance,  but  there 
is  a  higher  goodness  in  the  other.  The  latter  pos- 
sesses what  in  the  striking  language  of  the  Bible 
is  called  "  The  Beauty  of  Holiness."  So  long  as 
the  effort  to  do  right  is  visible,  this  beauty  has  not 
arrived. 

The  sense  of  right  and  wrong  is  a  primitive  ele- 
ment in  the  soul.  It  cannot  be  analyzed  or  re- 
solved into  anything  more  simple.  All  such  at- 
tempts lead  only  to  mental  and  moral  confusion. 
To  trace  it  back  to  a  sensation  of  pleasure  is  to 
confound  things  wholly  different.  The  desire  for 
pleasure  is  one  thing,  the  sense  of  obligation  an 
entirely  different  thing.  They  are  not  only  differ- 
ent, but  often  opposed,  as  in  the  instance  of  the 
hungry  boy  above  mentioned.  The  desire  for 
pleasure  would  have  induced  him  at  once  to  take 
the  bread,  if  he  could  have  done  so  without  beina: 
seen.  The  sentiment  of  duty  forbade  his  doing  it ; 
the  two  then  were  in  exact  opposition. 

This  first  element  of  morality  is  not  only  primal, 
but  also  universal.  It  is  one  and  the  same  thing, 
wherever  it  exists.  The  sense  of  an  eternal  dis- 
tinction between  right  and  wrong  and  of  the  eter- 
nal obligation  to  do  what  is  right  and  to  refuse  to 
do  what  is  wrong,  must  be  the  same  in  the  child 
and  the  archangel.     Kant  found  in  it  the  proof  of 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  283 

the  being  of  God,  since  it  goes  down  so  deep,  and 
goes  up  so  high,  and  speaks  with  the  absolute  au- 
thority which  belongs  to  God  alone.  The  desire 
for  pleasure  speaks  with  no  such  voice  of  com- 
mand. We  are  not  bound  by  any  obligation  to 
seek  enjoyment.  But  the  awful  voice  of  con- 
science listens  to  no  excuse,  allows  of  no  apology. 
It  says,  "Do  right,  though  the  heavens  fall." 

§  2.  Second  element.      Knowledge  of  what  is  right  and 
wrong.     Third  element.     Habits  of  virtue. 

The  second  element  in  morality  is  that  of  knowl- 
edge. In  order  to  do  right,  w^e  must  know  what 
right  is.  This  is  the  domain  of  ethics,  of  instruc- 
tion, of  education.  What  some  people  think  right, 
others  believe  to  be  wrong.  Where  some  see  a 
duty  to  be  done,  others  find  an  error  to  be  avoided. 
This  is  the  part  of  morality  which  can  be  taught. 
The  world  advances  in  virtue,  by  seeing  more 
clearly  what  its  duty  is. 

The  third  element  in  morality  is  the  habit  of 
doing  what  we  believe  to  be  right.  Many  persons 
see  their  duty  but  fail  to  do  it. 

"Video  meliora,  proboque  —  detcriora  sequor." 

"I  know  what 's  right,  and  I  approve  it  too  — 
Condemn  the  wrong,  and  yet  the  wrong  pursue." 

It  would  not  be  necessary  to  give  this  analysis 
of  morality,  were  it  not  that  so  many  theories  are 


284  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

put  forth  which  prevent  all  clear  thought  on  these 
questions.  For  example,  Buckle  tells  us  that  there 
is  no  change,  and  no  progress  in  moral  systems ; 
that  the  rules  of  morality  are  as  well  understood 
in  one  age  as  in  another.  His  words  are  these : 
"  To  do  good  to  others ;  to  sacrifice  for  their  bene- 
fit your  own  wishes  ;  to  love  3- our  neighbor  as 
yourself ;  to  forgive  your  enemies  5  to  restrain 
your  passions ;  to  respect  those  who  are  set  over 
you,  —  these,  and  a  few  others,  are  the  sole  essen- 
tials of  morals;  but  they  have  been  known  for 
thousands  of  years,  and  not  one  jot  or  tittle  has 
been  added  to  them  by  all  the  sermons  and  text- 
books of  moralists  and  theologians."  ^  Hence 
Buckle  argues  that  there  is  no  such  thino;  as 
improvement  in  morality. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  utilitarian  school  of 
moralists  assert  that  there  is  nothino-  fixed  ;  no 
foundation  of  moral  truth ;  that  all  is  in  progress. 
Paley  expresses  this  doctrine  most  forcibly.  He 
says  that  there  is  hardly  a  vice  or  crime  which  has 
not  been  considered  right  in  some  country  or  some 
period ;  that  theft  was  rewarded  in  Sparta ;  that 
to  put  to  death  little  children,  or  aged  parents, 
has  been  thought  proper  in  some  places  ;  that  the 
Indians  approve  of  cruelty ;  that  Paul  thought  it 
his  duty  to  persecute  the  Christians. 

1  Mr.  Buckle  has  omitted,  in  this  list,  truth,  honesty,  and  temper- 
ance. 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  285 

If  we  recur  to  the  positions  we  have  taken  in 
regard  to  the  three  elements  of  morality,  we  shall 
find  that  Buckle's  view  is  true  as  regards  one  ele- 
ment of  virtue,  and  Paley's  as  regards  another. 

§  3.   The  basis  of  Ethics  immutable.     Primal  convictions. 
Truth  and  Love,     The  place  of  utility  in  ethics. 

There  is  an  immutable  basis  to  ethics,  thoug;h 
not  exactly  what  Buckle  assumes.  The  sentiment 
of  right  is  always  the  same.  It  may  be  stronger 
or  weaker,  greater  in  quantity  in  some  periods, 
less  in  others,  but  its  quality  is  unchangeable. 

There  are  also  two  moral  convictions  which  are 
to  be  found  in  all  races,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest.  These  are  of  justice  and  mercy,  or  truth 
and  love.  Everywhere  it  has  been  accounted  a 
duty  to  be  just  to  others,  not  to  take  what  be- 
longs to  them,  to  pay  one's  debts,  to  tell  the  truth, 
to  keep  one's  promises,  to  be  faithful  to  one's 
engagements.  This  is  radical  in  morality.  And 
again  it  has  always  been  considered  morally  beau- 
tiful to  do  actions  of  kindness,  of  charity,  to  be  be- 
nevolent to  the  poor,  to  be  hospitable  to  strangers, 
to  return  good  for  evil.  There  is,  therefore,  not 
only  a  fundamental  sentiment  of  right,  but  these 
two  fundamental  ideas  of  right. 

But  these  ideas  of  justice  and  mercy  are  often 
found  in  apparent  conflict.  Justice  requires  one 
course,  mercy  another.     Which  ought  we  to  fol- 


286  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

low  ?  Truth  deiiicands  this  action,  love  that ;  what 
ought  we  to  do  ?  All  the  cases  of  conscience,  all 
practical  problems  of  morals,  arise  from  this  antag- 
onism of  two  fundamental  ideas.  When  we  have 
a  real  difficulty  in  knowing  what  we  ought  to  do, 
we  shall  usually  find  that  truth  requires  one  course 
of  action  and  love  another. 

It  is  at  this  point  of  conflict  that  the  doctrine  of 
utility  comes  in ;  and  here  comes  in  also  the  possi- 
bility of  progress  in  morality.  We  find  out,  more 
and  more,  wdiat  course  of  action  is,  on  the  whole, 
for  the  best,  and  how  we  can  do  what  is  right  with- 
out sacrificing  either  justice  or  mercy.  This  con- 
stitutes the  ethical  education  of  mankind  ;  and  the 
moral  progress  of  the  world  consists  in  the  gradual 
lifting  up  of  the  moral  ideal,  as  well  as  in  an  in- 
creasing moral  enthusiasm  for  goodness.  Better 
knowledge  of  what  is  right,  and  a  stronger  im- 
pulse to  do  it,  marks  the  history  of  the  growth  of 
mankind  in  virtue. 

The  two  types  of  morality  which  I  have  desig- 
nated as  rooted,  one  in  the  idea  of  justice,  the 
other  in  that  of  mercy,  are  tj^  be  found  among 
all  people  ;  in  a  rudimentary  condition  among  the 
primitive  races,  more  developed  in  the  more  civil- 
ized. Assuming  that  most  of  our  moral  actions 
have  justice  and  mercy  at  their  foundation,  we 
shall  find  them  constituting  two  families,  or  groups 
of  qualities.     The  justice-group  includes  honesty, 


ETHICS    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  287 

truthfulness,  obedience  to  law,  courage  to  do,  forti- 
tude to  endure,  and  the  love  of  individual  freedom. 
The  mercy-group  of  virtues  includes  sympathy 
with  suffering,  hospitality  to  strangers,  domestic 
affection,  loyalty  to  one's  chief,  the  love  of  fame  or 
glory,  kindly  manners,  civility,  and  the  desire  for 
equality. 

Some  races  by  a  natural  instinct  or  by  acquired 
habit,  lean  more  to  one  of  these  classes  of  virtues ; 
and  other  races  to  its  opposite.  Take  for  example 
the  Enoiish  and  French.  The  Ensrlish  virtues  are 
those  belonging  to  the  group  of  which  justice  is 
the  root.  The  French  qualities  to  those  of  mercy. 
The  English  are  truthful,  the  French,  civil.  The 
English  believe  in  honesty,  in  keeping  one's  word, 
in  faithfulness  to  all  contracts,  obedience  to  law. 
The  French  are  more  kindly,  more  sympathetic, 
are  remarkable  for  the  streno-th  of  their  domestic 
affections,  have  a  great  love  of  glory,  are  fond  of 
approbation.  The  English  care  greatly  for  free- 
dom, demand  their  individual  rights,  wish  to  be 
governed  as  little  as  possible,  but  do  not  care 
much  for  equality.  They  rather  prefer  to  have  an 
aristocracy  to  look  up  to.  The  French  love  equal- 
ity, dislike  aristocrats,  are  democratic  in  every 
fibre  of  their  being,  but  are  willing  to  be  governed 
by  any  Louis  XIV.  or  Napoleon  who  will  give  them 
national  glory.  They  will  die  for  their  chief,  but 
wish  him  to  speak  to  them  as  a  comrade  or  equal. 


288  TEJ^    GKEAT    RELIGIONS. 

These  distinctions  may  be  traced  throughout  the 
Teutonic  races  on  one  side,  and  the  Keltic  races 
on  the  other. 

§  4.  Manly  and  Womanly  Virtues. 

All  the  virtues  may  be  distributed  in  a  large 
way  into  these  two  classes,  the  manly  and  the 
womanly  virtues. 

The  manly  virtues  include  conscientiousness, 
courage,  justice,  love  of  truth,  independence,  rev- 
erence for  right,  and  love  of  freedom.  The  wom- 
anly virtues  include  benevolence,  prudence,  sym- 
pathy with  suffering,  reverence,  hospitality,  do- 
mestic affection,  loyalty  to  one's  chief,  desire  of 
approbation,  love  of  beauty,  kindly  manners,  uni- 
versal charity,  and  love  of  equality.  The  manly 
and  womanly  virtues  are  both  necessary  to  make 
a  good  moral  character  ;  both  should  be  united  in 
every  man  and  every  woman.  Not  only  is  neither 
class  by  itself  adequate,  but  any  one  of  them,  un- 
less united  with  the  opposite,  loses  its  own  quality 
and  becomes  a  vice  instead  of  a  virtue.  Thus  the 
virtue  of  courage,  unless  joined  with  the  virtue  of 
prudence  and  caution,  ceases  to  be  courage,  and 
becomes  rashness.  S,o  the  virtue  of  benevolence  or 
sympathy,  unless  joined  with  the  virtues  of  consci- 
entiousness and  independence,  will  degenerate  into 
a  transient  emotion  of  weak  sentimentalism.  These 
cannot  exist  as  virtues  unless  united  with  their  an- 


ETHICS    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  289 

tagonist  qualities.  Independence  unbalanced  by 
humility  becomes  pride  ;  firmness  without  rever- 
ence for  others  turns  into  obstinacy.  The  desire 
to  be  approved  and  esteemed,  unless  joined  with 
the  love  of  truth  and  right,  runs  into  vanity. 

What  we  mean  then  by  distinguishing  these  as 
manly  and  womanly  virtues  is  only  this  :  That  the 
natural  man,  without  culture,  tends  more  to  one, 
and  the  woman  more  to  the  other.  The  most  cou- 
rageous and  heroic  among  men  have  been  those 
who  added  to  their  courage,  tenderness ;  to  their 
independence,  reverence.  This  union  constituted 
the  chivalric  character  of  a  Bayard,  who  Avas  not 
only  without  fear,  but  without  reproach ;  of  a 
Douglas,  who  was  not  merely  true,  but  also  ten- 
der ;  of  Jeanne  d'  Arc,  whose  unflinching  cour- 
age enhances  her  womanly  sweetness  and  purity. 
Each  grace  can  only  attain  its  own  perfection 
when  it  has  the  opposite  for  its  companion.  The 
manly  virtues  culminate  in  truth,  and  the  wom- 
anly in  love.  But  truth  without  love  is  not  fully 
truth,  and  love  without  truth  is  not  love.  In  God 
both  are  perfectly  one,  and  man  approaches  the 
divine  perfection  only  as  he  unites  both  in  himself. 

§  5.  Morality  among  Primitive  Races. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  ascertain  the  moral 
character  of  the  primitive  races.  The  reports  con- 
cerning them  have  come  from  travelers  who  usu- 

19 


290  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

ally  were  only  a  short  time  in  the  country ;  who 
did  not,  perhaps,  understand  the  language  ;  who 
were  suspected  and  avoided  and,  perhaps,  regarded 
as  enemies  by  those  who  had  been  ill-treated  by 
previous  visitors;  and  who  judged  of  the  character 
of  a  people  by  their  own  personal  experience.  So 
English  travelers  visiting  America  pronounce  a 
judgment  on  our  national  life  derived  from  their 
experiences  in  railroad  stations,  Western  hotels,  or 
among  the  hackmen  at  Niagara.  So  too  Ameri- 
cans, after  a  few  weeks  in  France  or  Italy,  decide 
ex  cathedra  on  French  or  Italian  civilization  by 
judgments  derived  from  their  observations  among 
commissionaires  and  couriers. 

Many  travelers  show  by  their  self-contradictory 
statements  concerning  them  their  inability  to  ob- 
serve the  people  they  visit.  Thus  Mariner  re- 
ports that  the  Tongans,  or  Friendly  Islanders,  are 
loyal,  pious,  obedient  children,  affectionate  par- 
ents, kind  husbands,  modest  and  faithful  wives, 
and  true  friends ;  and  are  at  the  same  time  with- 
out any  words  for  justice  and  injustice,  and  do  not 
regard  theft,  revenge,  and  murder  as  crimes  ;  that 
they  see  no  harm  in  seizing  a  ship  and  murdering 
the  crew  ;  that  the  men  are  cruel,  treacherous, 
and  treat  their  wives  badly,  but  live  happily  with 
them  ;  and  that  domestic  quarrels  are  seldom 
known.  Other  writers  say  that  the  Tongans  unite 
a  remarkable  mildness  with  great  courage.     They 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    EELIGIONS.  291 

are  brcave,  but  do  not  boa^t  of  their  valor.  Mari- 
ner himself  tells  us  of  a  young  warrior  who  was 
called  up  and  praised  by  the  king  for  an  act  in 
which  courage  and  generosity  were  united.  The 
youth  blushed,  and  went  modestly  back  to  his 
place,  and  never  boasted  of  what  he  had  done. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Navigators'  Islands  are 
described  as  being  "  hospitable,  affectionate,  hon- 
est, and  courteous."  They  are  very  warm-hearted, 
and  "  their  honesty  is  really  wonderful."  On  one 
occasion  a  European  vessel  went  ashore  on  the 
rocks,  and  the  whole  of  its  cargo  was  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Samoans,  but  not  a  man  stole  anything,  and 
the  property  was  taken  charge  of  for  its  owners. 
In  how  many  Christian  countries  would  not  the 
wreckers  have  carried  off  the  whole  cargo ! 

Courtesy  among  the  Samoans  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  duties  of  life.  The  early  voyagers  were 
struck  by  the  gentle  demeanor,  perfect  honesty, 
scrupulous  cleanliness,  graceful  costume,  and  pol- 
ished manners  of  this  people.  One  of  the  chiefs 
had  a  large  number  of  presents  given  to  him  by 
the  captain  of  an  English  vessel,  such  as  knives, 
scissors,  needles.  He  took  each  one  separately, 
laid  it  on  his  head,  and  returned  thanks  for  it,  and 
then  returned  thanks  for  the  whole.  Then  he 
turned  to  his  people  and  said :  "  The  English 
chiefs  have  given  us  all  these  presents,  now  let  us 
give  them  in  return  something  to  eat,  for  there 


292  TEN    GEEAT    RELIGIONS. 

are  no  pigs  running  about  on  the  sea,  nor  any 
bread-fruit  growing  there."  On  hearing  this  the 
whole  company  ran  away,  and  returned  bringing  a 
large  quantity  of  pigs,  bread-fruit,  and  yams,  and 
presented  them  to  the  English.  We  have  dwelt  on 
the  good  morals  of  this  particular  people  because 
the  description  is  unquestionably  correct ;  because 
it  shows  us  a  race  in  whom  good  morals  and  man- 
ners have  grown  up  without  any  influence  from 
without,  they  having  lived  for  thousands  of  years 
alone  on  their  islands,  and  because  they  united  the 
two  classes  of  virtues,  viz.,  that  of  courage  and 
honesty  with  that  of  kindness  and  courtesy,  and 
both  in  a  high  degree.  We  certainly  ought  not  to 
call  such  a  people  savages. 

§  6.   The  Races  of  Africa. 

The  negroes  of  Africa  have  been  charged  with 
all  sorts  of  vices  and  crimes,  theft,  cruelty,  treach- 
ery, disregard  of  life.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  negroes  of  whom  we  have  usually  heard, 
have  been  for  centuries  corrupted  by  the  slave- 
traders,  both  on  the  eastern  and  western  shores  of 
the  continent.  Foreigners  have  come  among  them 
to  steal  men  and  women,  and  have  murdered  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  in  the  operation. 
What  wonder  that  the  Africans  should  retaliate 
on  foreigners  in  the  same  way.  But  the  travelers 
who  have  penetrated  the  interior,  like  Du  Chaillu, 


ETHICS    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  293 

Livingstone,  and  Stanley,  and  who  have  convinced 
the  natives  that  they  came  as  friends,  have  met 
with  warm  hospitaUty  ;  have  found  them  true  to 
their  eno-ag-ements  ;  have  left  them  in  charo-e  of 
what  to  them  was  untold  wealth,  and  have  had  it 
taken  care  of  and  faithfully  restored  again.  They 
have,  in  short,  found  the  rudimentary  forms  of  the 
kingly  and  queenly  virtues  of  truth  and  love,  jus- 
tice and  mercy,  united  in  the  hearts  of  these  be- 
nighted heathens. 

Du  Chaillu  says  that  the  Aponos,  a  merry  race, 
who  live  near  the  equator,  were  an  honest  people, 
and  stole  nothing  from  him,  and  that  some  of  them 
always  took  his  part  in  any  dispute  which  arose. 

Livingstone,  whose  rule  in  going  among  the  ne- 
gro tribes  was  to  make  them  feel  that  he  was  one 
of  themselves,  and  that  he  loved  them,  was  met 
everywhere  by  a  responsive  good  will.  When  he 
died,  hundreds  of  miles  from  the  coast,  and  with 
no  white  man  near,  his  faithful  negro  servants  car- 
ried his  body,  his  papers,  and  other  valuables,  all 
the  way  to  the  sea.     His  biographer  says,  — 

"  If  anything  is  needed  to  commend  the  African  race, 
and  prove  it  to  be  fitted  to  make  a  noble  nation,  the  cour- 
age, affection,  and  persevering  loyalty  shown  by  his  at- 
tendants after  his  death  is  sufiicient.  It  was  a  great,  dif- 
ficult, and  dangerous  work  to  carry  his  body  to  Zanzibar. 
It  took  nine  long  months  of  toil  to  do  this.  They  dried 
the  body  in  the  sun,  wrapt  it  in  calico,  inclosed  it  in  a 


294  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

bark  cylinder,  sewed  a  piece  of  sailcloth  round  all,  and 
set  out.  They  were  not  themselves  well ;  they  had  to 
make  their  way  through  hostile  tribes,  and  though  a 
white  party  who  met  them  urged  them  to  bury  the  re- 
mains, and  not  run  the  risk  of  carrying  them  further, 
they  were  inflexible,  and  persevered." 

Such  are  the  virtues  which  already  appear  in 
primitive  man,  rudimentary  virtues,  indeed,  but 
partaking  of  the  qualities  of  both  the  types  de- 
scribed above.  In  courage,  in  loyalty  to  friends 
and  tribe,  in  fidelity  to  engagements,  honest  deal- 
ings, we  find  the  truth-cycle  in  its  early  forms ;  in 
hospitality,  kindness  to  those  in  need,  and  domestic 
affection,  we  see  the  beginning  of  the  love-cycle. 

Proceeding  onward  from  the  primitive  races  and 
religions  to  national  life  and  the  ethnic  religions, 
let  us  see  what  progress  there  is  in  morals. 

§  7.  Development  of  moral  impulse  in  character.    Romans 
and  Greeks.     Socrates.     The  Stoics. 

This  important  fact  we  immediately  discover: 
that  what  is  moral  impulse  in  the  child-like  races 
grows  up  into  principle  and  character  in  the  higher 
forms  of  human  life.  We  find  this  eminently  among 
the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  In  the  national 
life  of  both  races  there  are  numerous  and  well- 
known  examples  of  high  moral  character. 

The  Greeks  were  to  the  Romans  as  the  French 
to  the  English.    In  both  instances  the  nation  nearer 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  295 

the  rising  sun  was  more  vivacious,  alert,  active ; 
had  more  tact  and  ardor,  a  greater  love  of  fame 
and  glory ;  that  to  the  West  was  more  strong,  solid, 
fixed  in  principles,  practical,  believing  in  justice 
and  law.  Their  virtues  shared  these  characterise 
tics.  The  morality  of  the  Roman,  like  that  of  the 
English,  belonged  to  the  cycle  of  justice;  the  Greek 
morality  to  the  cycle  of  kindness,  mercy,  and  sym- 
pathy. 

Of  the  Roman  virtues  in  their  sterner  form  such 
men  as  Coriolanus,  Brutus,  and  the  two  Catos  are 
examples.  The  sense  of  justice  appears  developed 
to  the  utmost  degree  of  strength  in  the  character 
of  the  younger  Cato.  We  read,  in  our  Plutarch, 
that  from  his  youth  he  displayed,  even  in  his  look 
and  in  his  amusements,  solidity  and  inflexible  pur- 
pose. When  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  during  the 
tyranny  of  Sylla,  whose  house  was  like  a  jAace  of 
execution,  seeing  the  heads  of  many  citizens  car- 
ried out  whom  Sylla  had  murdered,  he  said:  "Why 
does  not  some  one  kill  that  man  ?  "  "  Because," 
said  his  preceptor,  "  they  fear  him  more  than  they 
hate  him."  "  Give  me  a  sword,"  said  Cato,  "  that 
I  may  kill  him  and  deliver  my  country."  Though 
rich,  he  lived  with  extreme  simplicity.  "  He  car- 
ried," his  biographer  says,  "  an  impulse  like  inspi- 
ration into  every  virtue ;  but  his  greatest  attach- 
ment was  to  justice,  and  justice  of  that  severe  kind 
that  is  not  to  be  wrought  upon  by  compassion." 


296  TEN"    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

When  asked  why  he  did  not  speak  in  public,  he 
said  :  "I  am  wilKng  men  shall  blame  my  silence, 
provided  they  do  not  blame  my  life.  I  will  speak 
when  I  have  anything  that  is  worth  saying."  He 
showed  so  much  coolness  and  capacity  as  a  soldier 
in.  the  servile  war  that  the  general  in  command  of- 
fered to  reward  him  by  promotion,  but  he  peremp- 
torily refused  the  honor,  saying:  "I  have  done 
nothing  which  deserves  such  notice."  But  there 
was  a  tender  side  to  Cato's  nature,  as  was  shown 
by  his  devoted  love  for  his  brother,  Ca3pio.  The 
shrewd  observer,  Plutarch,  does  not  fail  to  remark 
this  trait  of  tenderness  in  his  character,  and  tells 
us  that  the  affection  which  was  universally  felt  for 
Cato  by  his  soldiers  is  a  proof  of  it ;  and  adds  that 
the  virtue  which  only  inspires  respect  and  not  love 
seldom  influences  the  lives  of  others.  Cato  also 
gained  great  popularity  by  refusing  the  presents 
offered  him,  especially  by  the  king  of  Galatia,  who 
besought  him  to  accept  many  valuable  gifts,  and  if 
he  would  not  take  them  himself  to  allow  his  friends 
to  do  so.  Cato,  who  knew  that  these  were  bribes 
to  secure  his  influence,  sent  back  the  presents,  say- 
ing to  his  friends :  "If  I  give  them  to  3'ou  I  am 
taking  them  myself.  Corruption  will  never  want 
a  pretense.  Never  mind.  I  will  share  with  you 
whatever  I  can  gain  honorably." 

In  these  days,  when  the  reform  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice occupies  so  many  minds,  the  example  of  Cato  is 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  297 

worth  remembering.  When  he  became  Quaestor, — 
which  was  the  same  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury among  ourselves,  —  he  fomicl  that  many  abuses 
had  crept  in.  Previous  Quaestors  had  usually  been 
young,  and  ignorant  of  the  business,  and  thus  had 
naturally  left  the  direction  of  the  Treasury  to  the 
under-officers,  who  had  been  there  long,  and  were 
experienced  in  office.  But  Cato,  before  he  became 
a  candidate  for  this  office,  had  made  a  thorough 
study  of  the  whole  subject,  and  took  the  reins  into 
his  own  hands,  putting  an  end  to  all  such  corrup- 
tions. In  this  waj^  he  made  the  Treasury  as  re- 
spectable as  the  Senate,  and  the  office  of  Quaestor 
equal  to  that  of  Consul. 

Cato's  truthfulness  was  so  well  known  that  it 
became  a  proverb.  "  I  would  not  believe  that, 
even  if  Cato  said  it."  All  this  severity  made  him, 
of  course,  obnoxious  to  those  who  had  jobs,  for 
they  knew  they  could  do  nothing  while  Cato  was 
in  the  way.  One  of  these  men  he  charged  with 
bribery ;  the  man  was  defended  by  Cicero,  who 
undertook  to  ridicule  the  austere  virtue  of  Cato, 
as  of  a  man  who  was  righteous  overmuch.  Cato 
merely  remarked,  "  We  have  a  very  amusing  Con- 
sul." 

We  find  the  same  type  of  virtue  in  Greece  in 
such  men  as  Aristides,  Phocion,  and  Timoleon,  but 
less  austere,  less  stern.  You  could  not  apply  to 
them  the  phrase  of  Horace,  "  the  atrocious  soul  of 


298  TEN    GREAT    RELIGION'S. 

Cato."  But  what  a  cliarming  story  is  that  of  the 
proposal  of  Themistocles,  showing  the  profound 
confidence  inspired  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  by 
the  lofty  virtues  of  Aristides.  Themistocles  told 
the  people  that  he  had  a  plan  which  would  bring 
a  great  good  to  Athens,  but  it  must  be  kept  secret. 
The  Assembly  directed  him  to  communicate  it  to 
Aristides  alone,  and  they  would  abide  by  his  de- 
cision. The  plan  of  Themistocles  was  to  seize  the 
armed  ships  of  all  the  Confederate  Greeks,  and  so 
to  make  Athens  the  ruling  power  in  Hellas.  Aris- 
tides returned  to  the  Assembly,  and  said :  "  Noth- 
ing could  be  of  more  advantage  to  Athens  than 
the  proposed  scheme  ;  but  nothing  could  be  more 
unjust."  The  democracy  of  Athens  immediately 
commanded  Themistocles  to  abandon  all  thousrht 
of  this  action. 

And  yet  Themistocles  seems  a  better  representa- 
tive of  the  Greek  character  than  Aristides.  The- 
mistocles was  consumed  by  the  love  of  glory ;  he 
was  intrepid,  keen-witted,  bright.  He  was  a  man 
who  stood  by  his  friends,  right  or  wrong.  His 
longing  for  renown  was  such  that  he  said :  "  The 
trophies  of  Miltiades  will  not  suffer  me  to  sleep." 
Brave,  full  of  resource  in  war,  a  great  general, 
one  of  the  saviors  of  Greece,  by  the  force  of  his 
genius  compelling  his  rivals  to  follow  his  ideas,  he 
was  still  a  dangerous  man  in  times  of  peace.  He 
was  one  of  those  who  are  possessed  by  the  demon 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  299 

of  ambition ;  he  must  be  doing  something  extra- 
ordinary, good  or  bad.  He  was  full  of  wit.  But 
he  sometimes  met  with  a  keen  retort.  Attempting 
to  levy  a  large  contribution  from  the  Greeks  of 
Andria,  he  told  them :  "  I  have  brought  with  me 
two  gods,  Persuasion  and  Force,"  to  which  they 
replied :  "  We  also  have  two  still  more  powerful 
gods  on  our  side,  Poverty  and  Despair." 

Phocion  was  an  Athenian  who  resembled  Cato 
in  self-control  and  self-denial.  Ridiculed  for  his 
sternness  by  some  trifle rs,  he  said :  "  My  black 
looks  never  gave  any  of  you  an  hour  of  sorrow ; 
but  the  laughter  of  my  critics  has  cost  many  a 
tear."  Being  asked,  before  speaking  in  public, 
what  he  was  thinking  of,  he  answered :  "  I  am 
thinking  how  I  can  shorten  what  I  have  to  say.'* 
He  never  hesitated  to  resist  the  clamor  of  the 
multitude  and  the  tumult  of  the  citizens  demand- 
ing wrong  things.  When  the  people  were  in  a 
difficulty,  and  charged  him  with  being  the  cause 
of  it,  he  simply  said :  "  Let  us  first  escape  from 
this  danger,  afterwards  3^ou  may  banish  me,  if  you 
like."  He  would  not  allow  them  to  rejoice  at  the 
death  of  their  enemy,  Philip,  saying :  "  It  would 
show  that  we  were  afraid  of  him,  to  express  any 
satisfaction  at  his  death."  Alexander,  who  had  a 
great  respect  for  him,  sent  him  a  hundred  talents. 
He  refused  the  gift.  The  ambassador  urged  him 
to  accept  it,  saying  that  Alexander  offered  it  to 


300  TEN    GEEAT    RELIGIONS. 

him  because  he  believed  him  to  be  the  one  honest 
man  in  Athens.  "Then,"  said  Phocion,  "let  him 
allow  me  to  remain  so." 

Such  are  the  anecdotes  which  the  greatest  of 
biographers  has  preserved  for  us  concerning  the 
nobility  of  character  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. What  we  see  is  this.  We  have  ascended 
to  the  elevation  where  moral  sensibilitieSj  moral 
ideas,  and  moral  actions  have  become  organized 
into  moral  character.  As  far  as  we  can  see,  the 
external  influences  which  helped  this  development 
were  the  social  life  of  Greece,  and  the  political 
life  of  Rome.  In  Rome,  devotion  to  the  state,  to 
the  public  good,  was  the  atmosphere  which  men 
breathed.  To  serve  the  Roman  people,  to  have 
the  honor  of  becoming  one  of  the  chief  citizens,  to 
win  the  respect  and  gratitude  and  influence  which 
came  to  him  Avho  deserved  well  of  the  republic, 
this  was  the  ambition  and  pride  of  the  noblest 
Romans.  In  Greece  it  was  different.  It  was  not 
so  much  power  and  respect,  as  fame  and  love  w^hich 
impelled  the  soul  of  the  great  Athenians.  There 
were  men  of  Roman  fibre,  no  doubt,  among  the 
Greeks,  like  those  we  have  mentioned ;  and  men 
with  Greek  souls  among  the  Romans,  like  the 
Gracchi  and  Cicero ;  but  the  religion  of  Rome  was 
the  state,  the  religion  of  Greece  was  glory. 

One  character,  however,  among  the  Greeks  car- 
ried the  moral  element  to  a  still  higher  degree. 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    RELIGIONS.  301 

Socrates  does  not  seem  to  have  cared  for  fame  nor 
for  power,  except  the  power  of  reason  with  which 
to  mould  the  hearts  of  the  young  and  educate 
them  to  virtue.  His  rehgion  was  moral  culture. 
He  taught  the  art  of  self-culture  in  the  streets  of 
Athens.  In  one  respect  his  method  singularly  re- 
sembles that  of  Christianity.  In  Christianity  good- 
ness springs  from  the  two  roots  of  humility  and 
faith,  self-distrust  and  trust  in  God,  repentance 
and  hope.  And  so  Socrates  always  sought ;  first, 
to  bring  the  young  man  whose  soul  was  capable  of 
culture  to  a  sense  of  his  moral  and  mental  needs ; 
and  secondly,  to  animate  him  by  the  sight  of  the 
supreme  beauty  of  goodness.  He  first  brought 
him  under  conviction,  by  convincing  him  of  his 
ignorance,  and  then  inspired  him  with  the  hope  of 
an  insio;ht  like  that  of  his  master.  Thus  he  tausjlit 
the  youth  temperance,  sobriety,  the  love  of  knowl- 
edge, the  love  of  goodness,  the  worth  of  friend- 
shij),  courage,  and  wisdom.  He  sought  to  take 
out  of  them  their  vanity,  self-indulgence,  and  love 
of  wealth,  fame,  and  power,  unless  when  these 
were  deserved  by  great  qualities.  The  conversa- 
tion of  Socrates  with  Euthydemus,  as  reported  by 
Xenophon,  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of  his 
method.  Euthydemus  was  an  ambitious  youth, 
who  had  collected  many  books,  and  read  them, 
and  imagined  himself  a  superior  person  on  that 
account.     But  he   did  not  think  it  necessary  to 


302  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

take  any  instruction,  or  to  frequent  the  teaching 
of  the  wise. 

Socrates  meeting  him  one  day  said  :  — 

"I  hear,  O  Euthydemus,  that  you  have  many  books, 
and  that  you  read  them  diligently ;  that  is  a  very  good 
thing,  much  better  than  to  spend  one's  money  on  pleasure. 
I  suppose  that  you  are  studying  some  art  or  science.  What 
is  it  ?  Do  you  propose  to  be  a  physician  ?  An  architect  ? 
An  astronomer  or  geometrician  ?  " 

Euthydemus  answered  "  No,"  to  these  questions. 

"  Then,"  said  Socrates,  "  you  mean  perhaps  to  become 
a  statesman  and  public  man  ?  " 

Euthydemus  admitted  that  he  did. 

"  That,"  said  Socrates,  "  is  a  noble  pursuit.  I  suppose 
you  will  agree  with  me  that  a  man  who  wishes  to  govern 
justly  should  know  what  justice  is." 

"Certainly,  Socrates,  and  I  think  I  know  that  very 
well." 

"Suppose  then,"  said  Socrates,  "that  we  make  a  list 
of  just  and  unjust  actions.  We  will  put  an  A  over  the 
first,  and  B  over  the  second." 

"  You  may,"  said  Euthydemus,  "  if  you  think  it  neces- 
sary." 

"  Begin  then  with  lying.     Is  it  just  or  unjust  to  lie  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  answered  the  youth,  "  it  is  unjust.  Put 
that  under  B." 

"  But  suppose,  my  Euthydemus,  that  you  are  a  gen- 
eral, in  command  of  the  Atlienian  army.  Would  it  be 
just  in  you  to  deceive  your  enemy,  and  so  get  an  advan- 
tage over  him  ?  " 


ETHICS    IN   ALL    EELIGIONS.  303 

*'  In  that  case,"  said  Eutliydemus,  "  lying  would  be 
just." 

"  Is  it  wrong  or  right,  O  Euthydemus,  to  take  property 
which  does  not  belong  to  you  ?  " 

"  It  is  wrong." 

"  The  general  then  has  no  right  to  take  the  property  of 
the  enemy  ?." 

"  Of  course  he  has  a  right,"  said  Euthydemus ;  "  in 
war  everything  is  right  against  our  enemies." 

"  Then  we  will  take  these  cases  from  B  and  put  them 
under  A?" 

"  We  may,"  said  the  disciple. 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Socrates,  "  you  meali  that  in  war,  for 
a  general  to  speak  falsehood  to  the  enemy  is  just,  but  to 
speak  it  to  his  friends  is  unjust?  " 

"  That  is  what  I  mean." 

"  Suppose  then,"  continued  Socrates,  "  that  the  gen- 
eral, perceiving  the  courage  of  his  troops  to  falter,  should 
make  them  believe  that  new  succor  was  at  hand.  Would 
that  be  just  or  unjust  ?  " 

"  I  think  that  would  be  just." 

"Is  it  right  to  use  violence  to  our  friends  against  their 
will,  and  prevent  them  by  force  from  doing  what  they 
wish,  or  is  that  unjust  ?  " 

"  It  is  unjust." 

"  Then  if  your  friend,  in  a  fit  of  despair  or  insanity, 
should  try  to  kill  himself,  you  ought  not  to  take  the 
sword  away  by  force;  for  that  is  what  you  just  said  ?" 

"  I  take  back  that  opinion,"  said  Euthydemus,  "  if  I 
may  be  allowed  to  do  so." 

*'  Certainly,"  responded  Socrates,  "  it  is  always  far  bet- 
ter to  change  our  opinion  than  to  persevere  in  a  wrong 
one." 


304  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

And  so  the  dialogue  goes  on,  till  the  poor  youth 
is  quite  mortified  at  his  own  ignorance,  and  de- 
clares that  he  begins  to  believe  that  he  does  not 
know  anything,  and  had  better  be  silent  alto- 
gether. But  being  of  a  generous  temper,  he  did 
not  suffer  this  mortification  to  estrange  him  from 
Socrates,  but  became  one  of  his  most  devoted  dis- 
ciples. 

In  considering  this  character  of  Socrates,  we 
perceive  that  he  has  led  us  up  to  a  still  higher 
region  of  ethics.  To  him  goodness  is  something 
sacred  in  itself.  The  best  Romans  and  Greeks  had 
in  their  heart  a  desire  for  superiority  over  others, 
they  wished  the  respect,  or  esteem,  or  affection,  or 
praise,  of  the  state  and  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
This  was  certainly  not  a  wrong  motive.  But  Soc- 
rates saw  what  the  Bible  calls  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness, the  divine  quality  of  virtue,  the  infinite  supe- 
riority of  this  to  all  other  possessions.  This  was 
the  faith  that  upheld  him  when  he  made  his  mem- 
orable defense,  which  one  cannot  read  without  be- 
ing made  better.  This  is  what  gave  him  the  calm, 
sweet  wisdom  shown  in  the  long  day's  discourse,  of 
which  his  death  was  to  be  the  end,  wdiich  almost 
brings  tears  to  our  eyes  after  twenty-five  centu- 
ries. Our  only  conclusion  must  be  that  of  Elihu, 
"  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of 
the  Almighty  giveth  him  understanding."  That  is 
all  we  can  say.     The  noble  qualities  in  the  soul  of 


ETHICS    IN    ALL    RELIGIONS.  305 

Socrates  were  given  him  by  Gocl.  He  was  raised 
up  to  be  a  prophet  to  the  whole  civihzed  world, 
and  by  his  lofty  wisdom  he  was  a  Greek  John  the 
Baptist,  preparing  *  the  way  for  a  higher  teacher 
than  himself.  Socrates  certainly  did  not  draw  his 
inspiration  from  the  festivals  or  ritual  of  the  Greek 
religion.  Neither  the  Greek  nor  Roman  religion 
professed  to  teach  any  high  spiritual  or  moral  doc- 
trines. The  sculptors  and  the  philosophers  were 
the  true  religious  teachers  of  both  nations. 

The  best  ethical  teachers  whom  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  possessed  were  to  be  found  in  the  Stoical 
philosophers.  We  are  made  better  to-day,  and 
also  wiser,  by  reading  the  works  of  Epictetus,  Mar- 
cus Antoninus,  and  Seneca.  They  insist  on  all  the 
manlier  virtues,  temperance,  fortitude,  truth,  jus- 
tice, purity.  They  make  of  life  a  discipline,  a 
scene  of  moral  gymnastics.  You  would  not  wish 
to  live  always  in  a  gymnasium,  only  practicing 
athletic  exercises,  but  as  a  strengthening  process, 
to  be  used  occasionally,  there  are  few  better  helps 
than  the  writings  of  these  great  Stoics. 

§  8.  Ethics  of  Buddhism. 

Buddhism  is  a  highly  ethical  religion.  It  is 
more  a  system  of  morality  than  a  religion.  Its 
moral  impulse  seems  to  have  been  derived  from 
the  life  of  its  founder,  and  his  character  may  be 
traced  in  all  its  history.     A  man  of  intense  moral 

20 


306  .    TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

earnestness,  profoundly  sincere  and  truthful,  he 
was  still  more  profoundly  humane.  The  woes  of 
the  world  pressed  heavily  on  his  benignant  heart. 
The  whole  system  of  Hindu  caste,  with  its  odious 
distinctions,  was  abhorrent  to  him.  To  his  large 
mind  all  men  were  equal,  and  he  sought  to  raise 
them  to  a  peace  of  soul  like  his  own,  by  showing 
them  the  laws  of  the  universe  and  persuading 
them  to  accept  these  eternal  laws  as  their  rules  of 
life.  Obedience  to  the  moral  law,  he  believed, 
would  remove  at  last  all  sin  and  all  misery  from 
the  world.  Consequently  he  went  about,  teaching 
this  moral  code,  and  his  disciples  have  ever  since 
done  the  same.  Some  of  their  ethical  teachings 
are  intended  for  the  instruction  of  the  Buddhist 
monks,  and  their  minute  analysis  of  right  -and 
wrono-  reminds  us  of  the  voluminous  casuistry  of 
the  medioBval  theology. 

The  Dhammapada  is  an  ancient  Buddhist  work 
of  the  highest  authority.  The  following  extracts 
from  the  Dhammapada  much  resemble  the  tone  of 
Jewish  ethics  as  contained  in  the  Book  of  Prov- 
erbs :  — 

"Earnestness  is  the  path  of  immortality  (Nirvana), 
thoughtlessness  the  path  of  death.  Those  who  are  in 
earnest  do  not  die ;  those  who  are  thoughtless  are  as  if 
dead  already." 

"  By  rousing  himself,  by  earnestness,  by  restraint  and 
control,  the  wise  man  may  make  for  himself  an  island 
•which  no  flood  can  overwhelm." 


ETHICS    IN"   ALL    RELIGIONS.  307 

"  Fools  follow  after  vanity ;  men  of  sense,  wisdom. 
The  wise  man  keeps  earnestness  as  his  best  jewel.  Let 
the  wise  man  guard  his  thoughts,  for  they  are  difficult  to 
perceive,  very  artful,  and  they  rush  wherever  they  list : 
thoughts  well  guarded  bring  happiness.  Long  is  the 
night  to  him  who  is  awake ;  long  is  a  mile  to  him  who  is 
tired ;  long  is  life  to  the  foolish  who  do  not  know  the 
true  law." 

"  If  a  traveler  does  not  meet  with  one  who  is  his  bet- 
ter, or  his  equal,  let  him  firmly  keep  to  his  solitary  jour- 
ney ;  there  is  no  companionship  with  a  fool." 

"  The  fool  who  knows  his  foolishness  is  wise  at  least  so 
far.  But  a  fool  who  thinks  himself  wise,  he  is  called  a 
fool  indeed.  He  who  drinks  in  the  law  lives  happily 
with  a  serene  mind ;  the  sage  rejoices  always  in  the  law, 
as  preached  by  the  elect  (Aryas).  The  gods  even  envy 
him  whose  senses,  like  horses,  well-broken  in  by  the 
driver,  have  been  subdued,  who  is  free  from  pride,  and 
free  from  appetites.  .  .  .  His  thought  is  quiet,  quiet  are 
his  word  and  deed,  when  he  has  obtained  freedom  by  true 
knowledge,  when  he  has  thus  become  a  quiet  man. 
Though  a  man  recite  a  hundred  Gathas  made  up  of 
senseless  words,  one  word  of  the  law  is  better,  which,  if 
a  man  hears,  he  becomes  quiet." 

"  If  one  man  conquer  in  battle  a  thousand  times  thou- 
sand men,  and  if  another  conquer  himself  he  is  the  great- 
est of  conquerors." 

"He  who  always  greets  and  constantly  reveres  the 
aged,  four  things  will  increase  to  him,  viz :  life,  beauty, 
happiness,  power." 

"  But  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  vicious  and  unre- 
strained, a  life  of  one  day  is  better  if  a  man  is  virtuous 
and  reflecting." 


308  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

"  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  evil,  saying  in  bis  heart, 
'It  will  not  come  nigh  unto  me.'  Even  by  the  falling  of 
water-dro]3s  a  water-pot  is  filled ;  the  fool  becomes  full  of 
evil,  even  if  he  gather  it  little  by  little." 

"  He  who  has  no  wound  on  his  hand  may  touch  poison 
with  his  hand ;  poison  does  not  affect  one  who  has  no 
wound ;  nor  is  there  evil  for  one  who  does  not  commit 
evil." 

"  If  a  man  offend  a  harmless,  pure,  and  innocent  person, 
the  evil  falls  back  uj)on  that  fool  like  light  dust  thrown 
up  against  the  wind." 

"  Self  is  the  lord  of  self,  who  else  could  be  the  lord  ? 
With  self  well  subdued,  a  man  finds  a  lord  such  as  few 
can  find." 

"  Rouse  thyself !  do  not  be  idle !  follow  the  law  of 
virtue !  The  virtuous  rests  in  bliss  in  this  world  and  in 
the  next." 

"  Let  us  live  happily  then,  not  hating  those  who  hate 
us!  Among  men  who  hate  us  let  us  dwell  free  from 
hatred !  Health  is  the  greatest  of  gifts,  contentedness 
the  best  riches ;  trust  is  the  best  of  relationships :  Nirvana 
the  highest  happiness.  A  man  is  not  an  elder  because 
his  head  is  gray ;  his  age  may  be  ripe,  but  he  is  called 
'  Old-in-vain.' " 

"  He  in  -^hom  there  is  truth,  virtue,  love,  restraint, 
moderation ;  he  who  is  free  from  imjDurity,  and  is  wise, 
he  is  called  an  elder." 

§  9.   Ethics  in  ancient  Egypt.      The  oldest  hook  of  the 

world. 

The  oldest  texts  of  the  Egyptian  religion  show 
the  stress  laid  on  morals  in  that  ancient  system  of 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  309 

thought.     I  quote  as  follows,  on  this  subject,  from 
the  Hibbert  Lectures  of  Rhys  Davids  :  — 

"  The  triumph  of  right  over  wrong,  of  right  in  speech 
and  action  (for  the  same  word  signifies  both  truth  and 
justice),  is  the  burden  of  nine-tenths  of  the  Egyptian 
texts  which  have  come  down  to  us.  Right  is  represented 
as  a  goddess  ruling  as  mistress  over  heaven  and  earth, 
and  the  Avorld  beyond  the  grave.  The  gods  are  said  to 
live  by  it.  Although  funereal  inscriptions  are  less  to  be 
depended  upon  when  they  describe  the  virtues  of  the  de- 
ceased, than  when  they  give  the  dates  of  his  birth  and 
death,  they  may  at  least  be  quoted  in  evidence  of  the 
rule  of  conduct  by  which  actions  were  estimated.  We 
are  not  obliged  to  believe  that  this  or  that  man  possessed 
all  the  virtues  which  are  ascribed  to  him,  but  we  cannot 
resist  the  conviction  that  the  recognized  Egyptian  code  of 
morality  was  a  very  noble  and  refined  one.  '  None  of  the 
Christian  virtues,'  M.  Chabas  says,  'is  forgotten  in  it; 
piety,  charity,  gentleness,  self-command  in  word  and  ac- 
tion, chastity,  the  protection  of  the  weak,  benevolence 
towards  the  humble,  deference  to  superiors,  respect  for 
property  in  its  minutest  details,  all  is  expressed  there 
and  in  extremely  good  language." 

The  following  are  specimens  of  the  praises  which 
are  put  into  the  mouth  of  departed  worthies :  — 

"  Not  a  little  child  did  I  injure.  Not  a  widow  did  I 
oppress.  Not  a  herdsman  did  I  ill-treat.  There  was  no 
beggar  in  my  days ;  no  one  starved  in  my  time.  And, 
when  the  years  of  famine  came,  I  plowed  all  the  lands 
of  the  province  to  its  northern  and  southern  boundaries. 


310  TEN    GREAT   EELIGIONS. 

feeding  its  inhabitants,  and  providing  their  food.  There 
was  no  starving  person  in  it,  and  I  made  the  widow  to  be 
as  though  she  possessed  a  husband." 

Of  another  great  personage  it  is  said  that,  in 
administering  justice,  "he  made  no  distinction  be- 
tween a  stranger  and  those  known  to  him.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  weak,  the  support  of  him 
who  had  no  mother.  Feared  by  the  ill-doer,  he 
protected  the  poor ;  he  was  the  avenger  of  those 
whom  a  more  powerful  one  had  deprived  of  prop- 
erty. He  was  the  husband  of  the  widow,  the  refuge 
of  the  orphan." 

It  is  said  of  another  that  he  was  "  the  protector 
of  the  humble,  a  palm  of  abundance  to  the  desti- 
tute, food  to  the  hungry  and  the  poor,  largeness 
of  hand  to  the  weak;"  and  another  passage  im- 
plies that  his  wisdom  was  at  the  service  of  those 
who  were  ignorant. 

The  tablet  of  Beka,  now  at  Turin,  thus  describes 
the  deceased:  — 

"  I  was  just  and  true  without  malice,  placing  God  in 
my  heart,  and  quick  in  discerning  his  will.  I  have  come 
to  the  city  of  those  who  dwell  in  eternity.  I  have  done 
good  upon  earth  ;  I  have  done  no  wrong ;  I  have  done  no 
crime ;  I  have  approved  of  nothing  base  or  evil,  but  have 
taken  pleasure  in  speaking  the  truth.  There  is  no  lowly 
person  whom  I  have  oppressed  ;  I  have  done  no  injury  to 
men  who  honored  their  gods.  The  sincerity  and  good- 
ness which  were  in  the  heart  of  my  father  and  my  mother 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIOJfS.  311 

my  love  (paid  back)  to  them.  My  mouth  has  always 
been  opened  to  utter  true  things,  not  to  foment  quarrels. 
I  have  repeated  what  I  have  heard  just  as  it  was  told 
to  me." 

Great  stress  is  always  laid  in  these  inscriptions 
upon  the  strictest  form  of  veracity,  as,  for  instance, 
"  I  have  not  altered  a  story  in  the  telling  of  it." 
The  works  of  charity  are  commonly  spoken  of  in 
terms  which  are  principally  derived  from  the  Book 
of  the  Dead  :  — 

"  Doing  that  which  is  right  and  hating  that  which  is 
wrong,  I  was  bread  to  the  hungry,  water  to  the  thirsty, 
clothes  to  the  naked,  a  refuge  to  him  that  was  in  want ; 
that  which  I  did  to  him,  the  great  God  hath  done  to 
me." 

'•  I  was  one  that  did  that  which  was  pleasing  to  his 
father  and  his  mother  ;  the  joy  of  his  brethren,  the  friend 
of  his  companions,  noble-hearted  to  all  those  of  his  city. 
I  gave  bread  to  the  hungry;  I  received  (travelers?)  on 
the  road ;  my  doors  were  open  to  those  who  came  from 
without,  and  I  gave  them  wherewith  to  refresh  them- 
selves. And  God  hath  inclined  his  countenance  to  me 
for  what  I  have  done ;  he  hath  given  me  old  age  upon 
earth,  in  long  and  pleasant  duration,  with  many  children 
at  my  feet." 

God's  reward  for  well-doing  is  again  mentioned 
in  the  inscription  now  at  Miramar  in  honor  of 
a  lady  who  had  been  charitable  to  persons  of  her 
own  sex,  whether  girls,  wives,  or  widows :  — 


312  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

"My  heart  inclined  me  to  the  right  when  I  was  yet  a 
child,  not  yet  instructed  as  to  the  right  and  good.  And 
what  my  heart  dictated  I  failed  not  to  perform.  And 
God  rewarded  me  for  this,  rejoicing  me  with  the  happi- 
ness which  he  has  granted  me  for  walking  after  his 
way." 

We  are  acquainted  with  several  collections  of 
precepts  and  maxims  on  the  conduct  of  life.  The 
most  venerable  of  them  is  the  work  of  Ptahhotep, 
which  dates  from  the  age  of  the  pyramids,  and  yet 
appeals  to  the  authority  of  the  ancients.  It  is 
undoubtedly,  as  M.  Chabas  called  it,  "  The  most 
ancient  book  of  the  world."  The  manuscript  at 
Paris,  which  contains  it,  was  written  centuries  be-^ 
fore  the  Hebrew  lawgiver  was  born.  These  books 
are  very  similar  in  character  and  tone  to  the  Book 
of  Proverbs  in  our  Bible.  They  inculcate  the  study 
of  wisdom,  the  duty  to  parents  and  superiors,  re- 
spect for  property,  the  advantages  of  charitable- 
ness, peaceableness,  and  content ;  of  liberality,  hu- 
mility, chastity,  and  sobriety ;  of  truthfulness  and 
justice ;  and  they  show  the  wickedness  and  folly 
of  disobedience,  strife,  arrogance,  and  pride ;  of 
slothfulness,  intemperance,  unchastity,  and  other 
vices. 

The  maxims  of  Ptahhotep  speak  of  ''God  for- 
biddino;  "  and  "  God  commanding;  "  :  — 

"  If  any  one  beareth  himself  proudly  he  will  be  hum- 
bled by  God,  who  maketh  his  strength."     "  If  thou  art  a 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  313 

wise  man  bring  up  thy  son  in  the  love  of  God."  "  Happy 
is  the  man  who  eateth  his  own  bread.  Possess  what  thou 
hast  in  the  joy  of  thy  heart.  What  thou  hast  not,  obtain 
it  by  work.  It  is  profitable  for  a  man  to  eat  his  own 
bread;  God  grants  this  to  whoever  honors  him."  "  Pray 
humbly  with  a  loving  heart,  all  the  words  of  which  are 
uttered  in  secret." 

Another  section  is  upon  maternal  affection.  It 
describes  the  self -sacrifice  of  an  affectionate  mother 
from  the  earliest  moments  of  the  child's  existence, 
and  continues  as  follows  :  — 

"  Thou  wast  put  to  school,  and  whilst  thou  wast  being 
taught  letters  she  came  punctually  to  thy  master,  bring- 
ing thee  the  bread  and  the  drink  of  her  house.  Thou  art 
now  come  to  man's  estate ;  thou  art  married  and  hast  a 
house  ;  but  never  do  thou  forget  the  painful  labor  which 
thy  mother  endured,  nor  all  the  salutary  care  which  she 
has  taken  of  thee.  Take  heed  lest  she  have  cause  to  com- 
plain of  thee ;  for  fear  that  she  should  raise  her  hands  to 
God  and  he  should  listen  to  her  prayer." 

The  relio-ion  of  Zoroaster  must  be  considered  as 
highly  moral  in  its  influence,  insisting  on  purity  of 
thought,  word,  and  action ;  on  courage  to  oppose 
wrong  and  evil.  It  lays  its  chief  stress  on  the 
truth-cycle  of  goodness,  on  the  manly  virtues. 
Herodotus  said  of  the  ancient  Persians :  "  Lying  is 
regarded  as  the  most  discreditable  thing  by  them ; 
next  to  that  the  incurring  of  debt,  and  chiefly  for 
this  reason,  that  the  debtor  must  often  tell  lies."   . 


314  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

/ 

§  10.  Influence  of  Religion  on  Morality, 

We  may  now  ask  what  is  the  influence  exercised 
by  the  rehgions  of  mankind  on  the  develo^Dment  of 
human  morahty. 

Some  attempt  to  produce  good  conduct,  and  to 
repress  evil,  by  the  hope  of  future  reward,  and  the 
fear  of  future  punishment.  This  was  done  very 
fully,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Egyptian  religion, 
which  gave  every  Egyptian  a  full  and  detailed 
account  of  his  resurrection,  transmigrations,  and 
future  judgment  before  Osiris.  Brahmanism  and 
Buddhism  are  equally  minute  in  their  accounts  of 
rewards  and  punishments  hereafter,  by  the  passage 
of  the  soul  through  innumerable  heavens  and  hells, 
and  transmigration  through  many  bodies  of  ani- 
mals, plants,  and  men. 

How  far  such  descriptions  avail  to  prevent  evil 
and  encourage  good  is  quite  uncertain.  A  far-off 
and  only  haU-believed  retribution  affects  the  imag- 
ination feebly.  It  is  a  curious  and  very  noticeable 
fact  that  the  religion  of  Moses  teaches  no  such  doc- 
trine of  future  retribution.  It  appears  nowhere  in 
the  Old  Testament.  A  few  texts  may  be  strained 
to  indicate  something  of  the  sort,  but  there  is  no 
plain,  strong  statement  of  a  future  judgment  or 
moral  retribution.  Moses  was  acquainted  with  the 
whole  Egyptian  mythology  on  this  subject,  and 
must  have  deliberately  refused  to  make  use  of  this 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  315 

doctrine  of  future  retribution  as  a  sanction  for  his 
law.  Reward  and  punishment  in  this  world  —  not 
in  the  next — is  the  doctrine  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  moral  influence  of  the  teaching  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets  is  that  they  show  the  grandeur  and 
nobleness  of  goodness ;  they  rouse  the  higher  na- 
ture in  man ;  they  purify  and  elevate  all  the 
moral  sensibilities.  Besides  this,  they  show  God, 
not  far  off,  in  another  world,  but  close  by  in  this 
present  life.  They  give  the  sense  of  a  watchful, 
ever-present  Providence,  Guardian,  Judge.  Such 
a  sense  of  a  Divine  presence  must  always  be  the 
best  defense  and  inspiration  of  the  moral  nature. 
For  if  the  society  and  companionship)  of  good  or 
bad  men  exercises  such  an  influence,  how  much 
more  the  society  of  a  being  who  knows  our  innlost 
thoughts,  and  is  the  ideal  of  all  moral  purity. 

There  is  still  another  influence  exercised  on  mo- 
rality by  religion.  This  is  the  enthusiasm  for 
goodness  created  by  the  sight  of  generous  and 
noble  lives.  The  ethical  systems  of  books  are  dead 
and  dry  compared  with  this  power  which  comes 
from  a  soul  made  alive  by  truth  and  love.  Such 
souls  are  the  great  inspiration  of  the  race,  and  vir- 
tue goes  out  of  them,  transmitted  from  age  to  age, 
to  make  the  world  better. 

The  great  Brahmanical  rehgion  has  its  moral 
code  in  the  Laws  of  Menu.  They  are  very  elabo- 
rate and  go  into  many  details.     A  large  part  of 


316  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

this  book  is  devoted  to  ritual  and  priestly  obser- 
vances, to  questions  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  fasts 
and  penances,  and  the  details  of  the  caste  system. 
Here  and  there  we  find  interesting  passages ;  such, 
for  instance,  as  these  :  — ■ 

"  The  man  who  perceives  in  his  own  soul  the  supreme 
soul  present  in  all  creatures,  acquires  equanimity  toward 
all,  and  will  be  resolved  at  last  into  the  divine  essence." 

"  A  Brahman  should  shun  worldly  honor  as  he  shuns 
poison,  and  seek  disrespect  as  he  seeks  nectar." 

"  Let  him  say  what  is  true,  and  also  what  is  pleasing ; 
let  him  speak  no  harsh  truth,  let  him  speak  no  pleasant 
falsehood." 

"  The  act  of  repeating  the  divine  name  is  a  hundred 
times  better  than  sacrifice ;  if  said  alone,  better  still ;  if 
said  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  best  of  all." 

Let  us  now  return  to  our  original  definition  of  a 
moral  act,  which  makes  it  consist  in  the  three  ele- 
ments of  sentiment,  belief,  and  effort,  or  a  feeling 
that  we  ought  to  do  what  is  right,  a  belief  that  a 
certain  act  is  right,  and  an  effort  to  do  what  we 
believe  is  right.  These  constitute  the  spirit,  the 
ethics,  and  the  moral  character  of  each  race  and 
each  relisrion. 

As  we  ascend  from  the  lower  races  to  the  higher 
we  find  the  moral  sense  to  become  more  earnest, 
the  ethical  system  more  clear  and  elaborate,  and 
the  conduct  more  upright,  truthful,  benevolent, 
and  pure.     Morality  is  developed  along  this  line 


ETHICS    m   ALL    RELIGIONS.  317 

of  ascent  through  the  races  and  rehgions  of  man. 
In  some  races  there  is  more  of  one  element;  in 
others  more  of  another  element. 

Finally,  if  we  compare  the  morality  of  the  New 
Testament  with  that  of  other  sacred  books  and 
other  religions,  we  see  that  its  preeminence  con- 
sists, not  in  giving  any  new  ethical  rules  or  meth- 
ods, but  in  that  it  unites  other  moral  teaching  in 
a  fullness  of  spiritual  life.  It  gives  to  man  the 
greatest  work  :  to  make  God's  kingdom  come  and 
cause  his  will  to  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven.  It  furnishes  the  highest  motive,  —  the 
love  and  grace  of  God  dwelling  in  the  heart.  It 
sets  before  us  the  noblest  ideal  of  goodness  in  the 
life  and  character  of  Jesus.  It  does  not  reveal 
maxims  or  laws  of  right  never  known  before,  but 
it  turns  duty  into  happiness,  writes  the  law  in  the 
heart,  helps  us  to  walk  in  the  spirit  of  love,  and 
thus  becomes  a  power  to  lift  the  world  to  the 
highest  plane  of  peace  and  goodness. 


318  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IDEA    OF   A   FUTURE    STATE   IN   ALL    RELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Universal  belief  in  a  future  state  of  existence.  §  2.  No- 
tions concerning  it  among  the  Childlike  Races.  §  3.  Belief 
of  the  ancient  Etruscans.  §  4.  Of  the  Egyptians.  §  5.  Of 
Brahmanism.  §  G.  Of  Buddhism.  Meaning  of  Nirvana.  §  7. 
Of  the  Jews.  The  argument  of  Jesus  with  the  Sadducees. 
§  8.  How  Religion  jDroduces  faith  in  Immortality.  §  9.  The 
Poets  and  Philosophers.  §  10.  Two  Sources  of  belief  in  a 
Future  Existence.  §  11.  Modern  scientific  Unbelief.  Spir- 
itualism, and  its  evidences. 


P 


§  1.    Universal  belief  in  a  future  state  of  existence. 

PERHAPS  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  the 
comparative  history  of  rehgions  is  the  uni- 
versal belief  of  mankind  in  a  future  state  of  exis- 
tence after  death. 

"  Placed  on  this  isthmus  of  a  middle  state,"  with 
an  unknown  eternity  behind  him,  and  an  unknown 
eternity  before  him,  with  a  great  gulf  between 
this  globe  and  the  worlds  which  surround  it,  man 
has  everywhere  believed  in  a  hereafter.  No  trav- 
eler returns  from  that  bourne  to  tell  us  anything 
about  it,  at  least,  none  return  to  throw  light  on 
the  condition  of   departed  souls.     The  wise,  the 


THE    IDEA    OF    A   FUTUEE    STATE.  319 

good,  the  lovely  no  less  than  the  ignorant,  the  vic- 
ious, the  criminal,  pass  on  in  a  long  and  never- 
ending  procession  into  that  darkness,  and  no  one 
comes  back  to  say  to  us  where  they  have  gone. 
But  notwithstanding  this,  men  have  universally 
believed  in  another  life.  This  is  not  because  one 
race  has  received  this  faith  as  a  tradition  from  an- 
other. It  has  sprung  up,  independently,  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  in  all  ages,  among  the  an- 
cient Egyptians  and  ancient  Hindus,  those  who 
have  lived  in  the  frozen  zone,  and  those  wdio  in- 
habit the  burning  regions  of  central  Africa.  The 
travelers  who  visited  for  the  first  time  the  Esqui- 
maux of  Greenland,  or  the  negro  tribes  on  the 
Niger,  w^ho  first  saw  the  natives  of  the  islands  of 
Oceanica,  and  the  Papuans  of  the  Eastern  archi- 
pelago, found  among  them  all  a  well-developed  be- 
lief concerning  a  future  life.  This  did  not  come 
by  any  process  of  reasoning,  it  came  as  the  result 
of  some  instinctive  operation  of  the  mind  itself. 

The  often-quoted  saying  of  the  intelligent  mis- 
sionary Charlevoix,  that  "  the  belief  best  estab- 
lished among  the  aboriginal  Americans  is  that  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,"  is  confirmed  by  the 
careful  researches  of  later  writers.  Brinton,  in  his 
"  Myths  of  the  New  World,"  says  that  among  all 
the  Indians  of  North  and  South  America  there  was 
only  one  clan  found,  and  that  a  very  small  one, 
who  seemed  to  have  no  notion  of  a  future  state. 


320  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

This  was  the  "  Pend  d'  Oreilles,"  of  Oregon,  and 
even  they  beheved  in  charms,  omens,  dreams,  and 
guardian  spirits.  The  Iroquois,  Algonquins,  Sioux, 
Dakotas,  Navajos,  Natchez,  and  the  rest  of  the 
many  varieties  of  North  American  Indians  shared 
this  common  behef .  The  red  men  mostly  beheved 
in  the  sun  as  their  future  home,  says  Brinton. 
The  Mexicans  had  a  future  paradise,  and  said  to 
the  dying :  "  Sir,  or  lady,  awake,  the  dawn  ap- 
pears, the  light  is  approaching,  the  birds  begin 
their  songs  of  welcome,"  for  to  them,  when  the 
man  died,  he  awoke  out  of  this  dream  of  life  into 
a  future  reality. 

Brinton  also  mentions  one  curious  analogy  of 
belief  in  many  nations.  We  learn  that  the  Greeks 
supposed  that  every  soul  must  cross  the  river  Styx 
in  Charon's  boat ;  that  the  Persians  thought  the 
departed  must  cross  above  the  abyss  of  woe  on  the 
arch  of  the  rainbow ;  and  that  the  Koran  teaches 
that  they  must  go  over  on  the  bridge  el  Sirat, 
whose  blade  is  sharp  as  a  scimitar ;  and  even 
Christians  speak  of  passing  over  a  mythical  Jor- 
dan. The  early  missionaries  were  told  by  the  Hu- 
rons  and  Iroquois  that  the  soul  after  death  must 
cross  a  deep,  rapid  river  on  a  bridge  made  of  a 
slender  and  ill-poised  tree  ;  another  tribe  believed 
in  crossing  a  river  in  a  stone  canoe,  another  in  go- 
ino;  over  the  stream  on  a  brids^e  made  of  an  enor- 
mous  serpent.      The  Indians  of  Chili,  the  Aztecs, 


THE    IDEA    OF    A    FUTURE    STATE  321 

and  the  Esquimaux  had  similar  legends.  All  these 
notions  sprang  up  naturally.  Among  primitive 
people,  before  bridges  were  built,  the  chief  diffi- 
culty a  traveler  encountered  was  in  crossing  a 
river,  or  a  branch  of  the  sea.  They  naturally 
thought  that  in  the  long  journey  from  this  world 
to  the  next,  some  similar  difficulty  would  be  found. 

We  saw  in  a  previous  chapter  that  a  belief  in 
ghosts  is  almost  universal  among  primitive  races. 
The  negroes  of  Africa  are  tormented  by  the  fear 
of  ghosts,  who  are  thought  to  return  and  haunt 
their  homes. 

The  Nicaragua  Indians,  in  1528,  gave  their 
views  concerning  the  departure  of  the  soul,  saying 
that,  when  one  dies,  the  soul  comes  out  of  the 
mouth  in  a  form  like  that  of  the  living  person.  It 
is  that  which  made  them  live,  they  said.  A  like 
phenomenon  seems  to  have  been  accepted  as  a 
possibility  by  two  of  the  most  sharp-sighted  obser- 
vers, and  ablest  scientific  men  of  our  time.  The 
late  Dr.  Edward  Clarke  told  Dr.  0.  W.  Holmes  that 
once,  as  he  sat  by  the  side  of  a  dying  woman,  he 
saw,  at  the  moment  of  death,  "  a  something  rise 
from  the  body,  which  seemed  like  a  departing 
presence."  The  conviction,  he  says,  forced  upon 
his  mind,  that  something  at  that  moment  departed 
from  the  body,  was  stronger  than  words  could  ex- 
press. Dr.  Holmes  adds  that  he  heard  the  same 
experience  told,  almost  in  the  same  words,  by  a 

21 


322  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

lady  whose  testimony  was  eminently  to  be  relied 
on.  While  watching  her  parent,  she  felt  aware,  at 
the  moment  of  death,  of  a  ^'  something "  which 
arose  as  if  the  spirit  was  perceived  in  the  act  of 
leaving  the  body.  Dr.  Edward  Clarke  and  Dr. 
Holmes  seem  both  to  have  attached  a  certain 
weight  to  these  phenomena. 

§  2.  Notions  concerning  it  among  the  childlike  races. 

It  is  curious  to  find  among  the  childlike  races  a 
dread  of  the  ghosts  of  ancestors,  as  of  beings  dis- 
posed to  do  harm  even  to  their  surviving  friends, 
a  dread  which  has  now  wholly  disappeared.  There 
are  thousands  to-day,  perhaps  millions,  in  our  own 
country,  who  firmly  believe  that  they  receive  com- 
munications from  what  they  call  "  the  spirit  land," 
and  no  fear  is  excited  by  such  intercourse.  But 
among  primitive  people  there  is  a  great  dread  of 
the  malignant  disjDosition  of  the  departed  spirits. 
Precautions  are  taken  against  their  return.  The 
Hottentots  and  Siamese  break  an  opening  through 
the  wall  of  the  house  to  carry  out  the  dead,  re- 
building it  again  as  soon  as  the  body  is  removed. 
The  notion  seems  to  be  that  the  dead  man  can 
only  return  by  the  passage  through  which  he  de- 
parted. What  a  dreadful  idea  is  that  of  the  vam- 
pire, described  in  one  of  the  most  striking  pas- 
sages of  Byron  .^ 

1  See  the  passage  in  The  Giaour. 


THE    IDEA    OF   A    FUTURE    STATE.  323 

The  notion  of  the  childlike  races  concerning  the 
hereafter  is  usually  that  of  a  continuation  of  this 
life  in  another  world  on  much  the  same  plane. 
The  North  American  Indians,  being  hunters,  be- 
lieve in  happy  hunting-grounds.  The  Esquimaux 
in  a  place  where  the  sun  never  sets,  the  land  of  a 
midnight  sun,  where  there  are  plenty  of  walrus 
and  fishes.  The  people  of  Kamschatka  in  a  sub- 
terranean city,  like  the  world  above,  only  far  bet- 
ter. The  New  Zealanders,  like  the  Romans,  placed 
their  heroes  among  the  stars.  They  thought  that 
the  Pleiades  were  the  eyes  of  seven  heroes  killed 
in  battle.  The  Peruvians  believed  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  and  in  two  future  worlds  :  an 
abode  of  hard  work  below  the  earth  for  the 
wicked,  and  a  pleasant  heaven  above  for  the  good. 
The  Mexicans  believed  in  many  future  worlds  like 
this,  and  they  dressed  the  dead  man  in  his  best 
clothes,  put  his  passports  in  his  hand,  and  buried 
with  him  his  valuables.  The  Druids  believed  in 
three  worlds,  and  in  transmigration  from  one  to 
the  other  :  in  a  world  above  this,  in  which  happi- 
ness predominated ;  a  world  below,  of  misery ; 
and  this  present  state.  This  transmigration  was  to 
punish  and  reward,  and  also  to  purify  the  soul.  In 
the  present  world,  said  they,  good  and  evil  are  so 
exactly  balanced  that  man  has  the  utmost  free- 
dom, and  is  able  to  choose  or  reject  either.  The 
Welsh  Triads  tell  us  there  are  three  objects  of 


324  TEN"    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

metempsychosis,  to  collect  into  the  soul  the  prop- 
erties of  all  being,  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  all 
things,  and  to  get  power  to  conquer  evil.  There 
are,  also,  they  say,  three  kinds  of  knowledge : 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  each  thing,  of  its 
cause,  and  its  influence.  There  are  three  things 
which  continually  grow  less  :  darkness,  falsehood, 
and  death.  There  are  three  which  constantly  in- 
crease :  light,  life,  and  truth. 

§  3.  Belief  of  the  ancient  Etruscans. 

There  was  a  wonderful  nation,  existing  in  a 
highly  civilized  condition  in  Italy  before  the  rise 
of  the  Roman  Republic.  They  excelled  in  arts 
and  in  arms,  they  had  an  artistic  faculty  like  that 
of  the  Greeks,  and  an  energy  which  long  resisted 
and  nearly  crushed  the  growing  power  of  the  City 
of  the  Seven  Hills.  The  safety  of  Rome  was  in 
the  fact  that  the  twelve  cities  of  Etruria  were 
only  a  confederacy  and  not  a  union.  They  carried 
on  war  independently  of  each  other,  and,  there- 
fore, might  be  defeated  separately ;  whereas  if 
they  had  been  united,  the  Roman  power  could 
never  have  been  developed.  A  half-Greek  race, 
they  were  fond  of  decoration  and  drawing.  Their 
faith  in  immortality  shows  itself  in  their  tombs 
and  inscriptions.  Everything  except  the  massive 
walls  of  some  of  their  cities  has  disappeared.  But 
the  tombs  of  the  Tarquins,  of  Lars  Porsena,  and 


THE   IDEA   OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  325 

other  miglity  Etruscan  chiefs,  still  remain,  vast 
monuments  of  the  grandeur  of  the  race.  These 
graves  are  tumuli,  in  great  numbers  and  of  large 
proportions.  They  are  still  found  in  the  extensive 
cemeteries  of  the  Etruscans,  in  Tuscany,  arranged 
in  rows,  like  houses  in  streets.  They  can  be 
counted,  says  Fergusson,  by  hundreds,  and  in 
some  places  by  thousands.  Though  many  of  them 
have  been  opened  and  plundered  of  their  precious 
contents,  some  have  remained  untouched  until  re- 
cently, and  have  yielded  to  their  discoverers  rich 
collections  of  the  gold  and  bronze  instruments  bur- 
ied with  the  dead,  nearly  three  thousand  j^ears 
ago.  The  largest  tomb  yet  opened  is  more  than 
two  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  diameter  and  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet  high.  The  tomb  of  Lars 
Porsena,  as  described  by  Pliiiy,  was  a  cluster  of 
pyramids  supporting  other  pyramids,  which  Mr. 
Fergusson  thinks  may  have  reached  the  height  of 
four  hundred  feet,  which  is  loftier  than  any  spire 
or  tower  on  this  continent.  These  tombs  were 
filled  with  golden  ornaments  worked  with  great 
taste  and  skill,  elegant  furniture,  beautiful  vases, 
mirrors,  rings,  engraved  gems,  bronze  statues. 
The  art  of  working  in  bronze  was  carried  so  far 
that  in  one  Etruscan  city  there  are  said  to  have 
been  two  thousand  bronze  statues,  and  they  under- 
stood engineering  so  well  that  the  oldest  monu- 
ment in  Rome,  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  still  remains  as 
a  proof  of  their  ability  in  sewerage. 


326  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

The  inscriptions  in  the  Etruscan  tombs  indicate 
firm  faith  in  immortaUty.  One  says,  "  While  we 
depart  to  nought,  our  essence  rises ;  "  another, 
"  We  rise  hke  a  bird  ;  "  another,  "  We  ascend  to 
our  ancestors ;  "  another,  "  The  soul  rises  like  fire." 
They  have  pictures  of  the  soul  seated  on  a  horse, 
and  with  a  traveling-bag  in  its  hand. 

The  opinions  of  the  Etruscans  may  be  said  to 
have  belonged  to  the  ethnic  class,  but  we  know 
little  more  than  that  they  had  this  intense  belief  in 
a  future  life.  Like  the  Egyptians,  they  seemed  to 
have  thought  more  of  dying  than  of  living.  The 
tomb  was  the  permanent  home  of  both  people. 

§  4.    0/"  the  Egyptians. 

Tn  a  previous  chapter  we  have  seen  what  pre- 
cise views  the  Egyptians  took  of  the  hereafter; 
how  fully  and  minutely  they  described  the  prog- 
ress of  the  soul  onward  through  its  long  cycle  of 
change,  till  its  final  judgment  before  the  tribunal 
of  Osiris.  Omitting  what  has  been  before  de- 
scribed concerning  the  adventures  of  the  soul 
after  death  until  it  reaches  this  day  of  judgment, 
I  will  add  some  further  details  of  that  transaction. 

Conducted  by  Anubis,  the  soul  traverses  the 
labyrinth,  and  by  the  aid  of  a  clew,  guiding  it 
through  its  windings,  at  last  penetrates  to  the 
judgment  hall,  where  Osiris  awaits  it  seated  on  his 
throne,   assisted   by   forty-two   terrible   assessors. 


THE   IDEA    OF    A    FUTURE    STATE.  327 

There  the  decisive  sentence  is  to  be  pronounced, 
either  admitting  the  deceased  to  happiness,  or  ex- 
cluding him  forever.  Then  commences  a  new  in- 
terrogatory much  more  solemn  than  the  former. 
The  deceased  is  obliged  to  give  proof  of  his  knowl- 
edo-e  :  he  must  show  that  it  is  o;reat  enouo;h  to 
give  him  the  right  to  be  admitted  to  share  the  lot 
of  glorified  spirits.  Each  of  the  forty- two  judges, 
bearing  a  mystical  name,  questions  him  in  turn  ; 
he  is  obliged  to  tell  each  one  his  name,  and  what 
it  means.  Nor  is  this  all :  he  is  obliged  to  give  an 
account  of  his  whole  life.  This  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  curious  parts  of  the  funereal  ritual ;  Cham- 
pollion  called  it  the  "  Negative  Confession  ;  "  it 
would  perhaps  be  better  described  by  the  word 
"  apology."  The  deceased  addresses  successively 
each  of  his  judges,  and  declares  for  his  justification 
that  he  has  not  committed  such  and  such  a  crime. 
We  have  therefore  here  all  the  moral  laws  obliga- 
tory upon  the  Egyptian  conscience  :  — 

"  I  have  not  blasphemed,"  says  the  deceased  ;  "  I  have 
not  stolen ;  I  have  not  smitten  men  privily ;  I  have  not 
treated  any  person  with  cruelty  ;  I  have  not  stirred  up 
trouble ;  I  have  not  been  idle  ;  I  have  not  been  intoxi- 
cated ;  I  have  not  made  unjust  commandments ;  I  have 
shown  no  improper  curiosity  ;  I  have  not  allowed  my 
mouth  to  tell  secrets ;  I  have  not  wounded  any  one ;  I 
have  not  put  any  one  in  fear  ;  I  have  not  slandered  any 
one ;  I  have  not  let  envy  gnaw  my  heart ;  I  have  spoken 


328  TEN    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

evil,  neither  of  the  king  nor  my  father  ;  I  have  not  falsely 
accused  any  one ;  I  have  not  withheld  milk  from  the 
mouths  of  sucklings  ;  I  have  not  practiced  any  shameful 
crime  ;  I  have  not  calumniated  a  slave  to  his  master." 

The  deceased  does  not  confine  himself  to  deny- 
ing any  ill  conduct ;  he  speaks  of  the  good  he  has 
done  in  his  life-time.  "  I  have  made  to  the  gods 
the  offerings  that  were  their  due.  I  have  given 
food  to  tlie  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty,  and 
clothes  to  the  naked."  On  reading  these  passages 
we  may  well  be  astonished  at  this  high  morality, 
superior  to  that  of  all  other  ancient  people,  which 
the  Egyptians  had  been  able  to  build  up  on  the 
foundation  of  their  reliscion.  Without  doubt  it 
was  this  clear  insight  into  truth,  this  tenderness  of 
conscience,  which  obtained  for  the  Egyptians  the 
reputation  for  wisdom,  echoed  even  by  our  own 
Scriptures. 

Besides  these  general  precepts,  the  apology  ac- 
quaints us  with  some  police  regulations  for  public 
order  raised  by  common  interest  in  Egypt  to  the 
rank  of  conscientious  duties.  Thus  the  deceased 
denies  ever  having  intercepted  the  irrigating  ca- 
nals, or  having  prevented  the  distribution  of  the 
waters  of  the  river  over  the  country  ;  he  declares 
that  he  has  never  damaged  the  stones  for  mooring 
vessels  on  the  river.  Crimes  against  religion  are 
also  mentioned  ;  some  seem  very  stra,nge  to  us,  es- 
pecially when  we   find  them  classed  with   really 


THE   IDEA    OF    A    FUTURE    STATE.  329 

moral  faults.  The  deceased  has  never  altered  the 
prayers  nor  interpolated  them.  He  has  never 
touched  any  of  the  sacred  property,  such  as  flocks 
and  herds,  or  fished  for  the  sacred  fish  in  the  lakes 
of  the  temples,  or  stolen  offerings  from  the  altar. 

The  deceased,  who  now  receives  the  name  of 
the  god  Osiris,  is  fully  justified  ;  his  heart  has  been 
weighed  in  the  balance  with  "truth  "  and  has  not 
been  found  wanting ;  the  forty-two  assessors  have 
stated  that  he  possesses  the  necessary  knowledge. 
The  great  Osiris  pronounces  his  sentence,  and 
Tlioth,  as  recorder  to  the  tribunal,  having  in- 
scribed it  in  his  book,  he  at  last  enters  into 
bliss. 

Here  commences  the  third  part  of  the  ritual, 
more  mystical  and  obscure  than  the  others.  We 
see  the  Osiris-soul,  henceforth  identified  with  the 
sun,  traversing  with  him,  and  as  him,  the  various 
houses  of  heaven  and  the  lake  of  fire,  the  source 
of  all  liorht.  Afterwards  the  ritual  rises  to  a  hio-her 
poetical  flight,  even  contemplating  the  identifica- 
tion of  the  deceased  with  a  symbolical  figure  com- 
prising the  attributes  of  all  the  deities  of  the 
Egyptian  Pantheon. 

Thus  we  see  the  faith  of  Egypt  in  a  hereafter 
was  not  only  full  and  entire,  but  that  the  Egyptians 
also  had  a  distinct  idea  in  their  minds  of  the  whole 
process  of  development  in  another  world.  No  other 
theory,  until  we  come  to  that  of  Swedenborg,  pro- 


330  TEN    GEEAT   EELIGIONS. 

fesses  to  give  such  full  details  concerning  the  future 

life. 

^  5.   Of  Brahmanism, 

The  ancient  Brahmanic  religion  made  the  gods 
Yama  and  Varuna  the  rulers  of  the  world  of  spirits. 
Varuna  judges  the  soul  and  thrusts  the  wicked 
down  into  an  abyss  of  darkness.  Yama,  who  was 
the  Adam  of  this  mythology  —  three  letters  out  of 
the  four  being  the  same  in  each  name  —  assembles 
around  himself  the  good  among  his  descendants. 
But  before  this  ultimate  result  they  are  all  obliged, 
as  in  Egypt,  to  pass  through  a  long  process  of  trans- 
migration, the  object  of  which  is  the  punishment  of 
past  evil,  discipline,  and  reform.    ' 

The  last  book  of  the  Laws  of  Manu  is  on  trans- 
migration and  final  beatitude.  The  principle  is 
here  laid  down  that  every  human  action,  word,  and 
thought  bears  its  appropriate  fruit  hereafter,  good 
or  evil.  Out  of  the  heart  proceed  three  sins  of 
thought,  four  sins  of  the  tongue,  and  three  of  the 
body,  namely  :  covetous,  disobedient,  and  atheistic 
thoughts;  scurrilous,  false,  frivolous,  and  unkind 
words;  and  acts  of  theft,  bodily  injury,  and  licen- 
tiousness. He  who  controls  his  thoughts,  words, 
and  actions  is  called  a  triple  commander.  There 
are  three  qualities  of  the  soul,  giving  it  a  tendency 
to  goodness,  to  passion,  and  to  darkness.  The  first 
leads  to  knowledge,  the  second  to  desire,  the  third 
to  sensuality.     To  the  first  belong  study  of  Scrip- 


THE    IDEA   OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  331 

ture,  devotion,  purity,  self-command,  and  obedi- 
ence. From  the  second  proceed  hypocritical  ac- 
tions, anxiety,  disobedience,  and  self-indulgence. 
The  third  produces  avarice,  atheism,  indolence, 
and  every  act  which  a  man  is  ashamed  of  doing. 
The  object  of  the  first  quality  is  virtue  ;  of  the 
second,  worldly  success;  of  the  third,  pleasure. 
The  souls  in  which  the  first  quality  is  supreme  rise 
after  death  to  the  condition  of  deities ;  those  in 
whom  the  second  rules  pass  into  the  bodies  of 
other  men ;  while  those  under  the  dominion  of 
the  third  become  beasts  and  vegetables.  Manu 
proceeds  to  expound,  in  great  detail,  this  law  of 
transmigration.  For  great  sins  one  is  condemned 
to  pass  a  great  many  times  into  the  bodies  of  dogs, 
insects,  spiders,  snakes,  or  grasses.  The  change 
has  relation  to  the  crime ;  thus,  he  who  steals 
grain  shall  be  born  a  rat ;  he  who  steals  meat,  a 
vulture ;  those  who  indulge  in  forbidden  pleasures 
of  the  senses  shall  have  their  senses  made  acute  to 
endure  intense  pain. 

On  the  other  hand,  every  good  action  performed 
in  this  world  leads  to  a  higher  birth  hereafter; 
and  it  is  even  taught  that  a  tree  used  for  sacrifice 
in  this  world  shall  attain  an  exalted  birth  in  the 
next ;  and  he  who  lives  a  religious  life  with  great 
devotion,  will  escape  transmigration  altogether, 
and  after  death  ascend  immediately  to  the  high- 
est heaven. 


332  TEN"   GKEAT   EELIGIOXS. 

§  6.    Of  Buddhism.     Meaning  of  Nirvdna. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  stated,  on  the  authority 
of  the  most  learned  scholars,  that  the  highest  object 
of  desire  in  Buddhism  is  to  obtain  Nirvana  or  anni- 
hilation. I  ventured  to  deny  this  as  long  ago  as 
1868,  when  I  published  an  account  of  Buddhism  in 
the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  and  chiefly  on  the  ground 
that  such  a  belief  is  not  in  accordance  with  human 
nature.  I  believe  that  Tennyson  is  perfectly  right 
when  he  says :  — 

"  Whatever  crazy  sorrow  saith, 
No  life  that  breathes  with  human  breath 
Hath  ever  truly  longed  for  death. 

'Tis  life  of  which  our  nerves  are  scant, 
O  life,  not  death,  for  which  we  pant, 
More  life,  and  fuller  that  we  want." 

I  also  opposed  this  opinion  that  a  third  of  the 
human  race  longed  to  be  annihilated,  on  the 
ground  that  the  word  Nirvana  means  a  peace 
and  bliss  which  the  Buddhists  declare  can  be  at- 
tained in  this  life,  and  that  the  Buddha  himself 
entered  Nirvana  long  before  his  death.  At  pres- 
ent the  best  Buddhist  scholars  incline  to  the  belief 
that  Nirvana  does  not  mean  annihilation  but  im- 
movable rest.  It  probably  means  what  Christianity 
means  by  the  rest  of  the  soul  hereafter  in  God ; 
what  Jesus  meant  when  he  said  :  "  Peace  I  leave 
with  you,  my  peace  give  I  unto  you. 


>j 


THE   IDEA   OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  333 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  firmly  believed  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  down  to  a  late  period, 
when  their  faith  was  shaken  by  the  philosophy  of 
Epicurus.  Festivals  of  the  dead  were  held  by  the 
Romans,  and  the  dead  father  and  mother  accounted 
gods.  Yet  a  certain  terror  of  ancestral  spectres 
was  shown  by  the  practice  of  driving  them  out  of 
the  house  by  lustrations. 

Reviewing  what  we  have  thus  seen,  we  notice 
that  all  nations  and  races  have  held  to  a  future 
state  of  existence,  that  the  primitive  races  believe 
that  the  dead  are  near  by,  and  that  their  occupa- 
tions are  much  the  same  as  those  of  this  life. 
Future  existence  is  continued  along  the  plane  of 
the  present  life. 

When  we  come  among  the  ethnic  races  we  find 
a  difference.  The  dead  are  no  longer  close  by, 
unless  in  exceptional  cases.  They  have  a  world  of 
their  own,  a  heaven  or  a  hell,  or  both  in  one.  The 
world  of  the  departed  is  an  underworld,  below 
this,  where  there  is  little  light,  or  comfort  of  any 
kind.  Such  was  the  belief  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, and  the  Jews  borrowed  their  conception  of 
Hades  from  the  same  source.  They  also  believed 
in  a  dark  underworld,  where  both  the  good  and 
bad  went ;  the  evil  to  be  placed  in  Tartarus,  and 
the  good  in  the  Elysian  fields. 


334  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

§  7.    Of  the  Jews.     The  argument  of  Jesus  with  the  Sad- 

ducees. 

We  thus  come  to  the  religion  of  the  Jews.  The 
strikinoj  fact  in  this  connection  is  that  Moses  tauci:ht 
nothing  concerning  a  future  Ufe,  and  that  there  is 
no  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  which  teaches 
this  important  doctrine.  This  has  been  fully  shown 
by  Mr.  Alger,  in  his  valuable  monograph  on  the 
doctrine.  The  Jews,  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  gen- 
erally believed  in  a  resurrection  and  a  hereafter. 
And,  in  the  Old  Testament,  though  the  doctrine  is 
not  taught,  there  is  a  belief  in  a  sheol,  or  under- 
world, dark  and  undesirable,  to  which  souls  go 
after  death. 

Jesus  quotes  one  passage  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  proof  of  immortality.  It  is  the  one  where 
God  is  represented  as  speaking  from  the  bush  to 
Moses,  and  saying :  "  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob."  Jesus  infers  from  this  passage 
the  immortality  of  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
though  it  is  not  taught  there.  He  infers  that  those 
who  belong  to  God  must  live  —  they  cannot  die. 
"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  liv- 

And  this  is,  in  truth,  the  deepest  source  of  faith 
in  immortality.  Faith  in  God  himself  as  friend 
and  father  inevitably  creates  faith  in  immortal 
life. 


THE   IDEA    OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  335 

*'  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the 
living."  This  is  not  an  argument  to  convince  a 
doubter.  Jesus  did  not  use  it  as  a  logical  proof  of 
a  hereafter.  It  is  not  a  syllogism  to  create  a  belief, 
but  it  produces  faith.  Whoever  lives  in  the  light 
of  God's  presence  and  love  feels  himself  to  be  im- 
mortal. The  sense  of  death  passes  away.  It  is 
the  same  announcement  of  immortality  used  by 
Christ  afterward  :  "  He  who  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me  shall  never  die."  Create  a  sense  of  life  in 
the  soul  and  you  overcome  all  fear  of  death,  all 
thought  of  death. 

§  8.   Hoiv  religion  produces  faith  in  immortality. 

Christianity,  therefore,  like  Judaism,  does  not 
teach  immortality  as  a  doctrine  or  dogma;  but 
creates  faith  in  a  hereafter  by  filling  the  soul  now 
with  spiritual  life.  It  teaches  a  present  resurrec- 
tion or  ascent  of  the  soul  to  God.  "  I  am  the  res- 
urrection," says  Jesus.  He  raises  us  up  now,  and 
that  convinces  us  that  he  will  raise  us  up  at  the 
last  day. 

The  Jews,  without  any  distinct  doctrine  of  im- 
mortality, yet  believed  in  it  because  they  believed 
so  firmly  in  the  Providence  of  God.  Trust  in  a 
divine  presence  and  love  here,  creates  faith  in  the 
future  life.  As  to  the  form  of  that  existence,  they 
seem  to  have  borrowed  from  the  Greeks  their  idea 
of  the  under  world  as  a  dark  region  below.     This 


336  te:n'  gkeat  religions. 

appears  in  the  famous  passage  in  Isaiah,  where 
Babylon,  after  its  rod  of  cruel  oppression  was 
broken,  is  personified  as  going  down  into  Hades, 
leaving  the  earth  above  at  rest  and  in  peace.  The 
whole  dark  underworld  is  stirred  at  the  coming  of 
the  imperial  city.  "  Hell  [or  hades]  from  beneath 
is  moved  to  meet  thee  at  thy  coming ;  the  count- 
less myriads  of  the  dead  rise  up ;  the  kings  of  na- 
tions stand  up  on  their  thrones  and  say  :  '  Art  thou 
become  like  one  of  us  ?  '  How  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  0  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning !  " 

Not  only  all  primitive  religions,  but  all  the  great 
ethnic  religions,  have  awakened  in  man's  soul  the 
same  belief  in  a  future  life.  It  is  the  instinct  of 
consciousness  which  creates  this  faith.  Man,  as  a 
conscious  personal  being,  a  centre  of  life,  feeling 
himself  to  be  a  thinking,  feeling,  and  choosing  per- 
son, sees  no  reason  why  he  should  cease  to  exist 
when  his  body  is  dissolved.  He  says :  "  Life  does 
not  die."  Body  dies  off  of  it ;  the  life  continues 
elsewhere.  And  the  more  full  of  life  he  is,  the 
less  fear  of  death  he  has.  This  is  the  evidence  of 
those  who  trust  to  their  instincts.  They  have  faith 
in  immortality  because  it  is  natural  to  believe  in 
it.     They  are  made  so. 

§  9.   The  Poets  and  Philosophers. 

All  sentiment,  all  affection,  all  imagination  come 
to  reenf orce  this  feeling.    The  poetry  of  the  world 


THE    IDEA    OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  337 

in  its  noblest  aspiration  has  always  expressed  this 
faith.  Even  skeptical  poets,  like  Byron  and  Shel- 
ley, find  it  hard  to  question  a  future  existence. 
Byron  says,  in  a  well-known  poem  :  — 

"  When  coldness  wraps  this  snffering  clay 
Ah !  whither  strays  the  Immortal  mind  ? 
It  cannot  die  —  it  must  not  stay  — 
But  leaves  its  darkened  dust  behind." 

And  Shelley  says  of  Keats :  — 

"  He  hath  outsoared  the  shadow  of  our  night. 
Envy,  and  jealousy,  and  rage,  and  pain. 
And  that  unrest  that  men  miscall  delight, 
Can  touch  him  not,  nor  torture  him  again." 

"Peace!  peace!  he  is  not  dead,  he  doth  not  sleep; 
He  hath  awakened  from  the  dream  of  life." 

"  Thou  canst  not  soar  where  he  is  sitting  now. 

Dust  to  the  dust  —  but  the  pure  spirit  shall  flow 
Back  to  the  burning  fountain  whence  it  came, 
A  portion  of  the  Eternal,  which  must  glow 
Through  time  and  change,  unquenchably  the  same." 

The  philosophers,  with  few  exceptions,  have  held 
this  great  faith  in  immortality  :  Pythagoras,  Plato, 
Socrates,  Cicero ;  and  in  modern  times  the  best 
thinkers  :  Milton,  Dante,  Descartes,  Leibnitz ;  and 
among  ourselves,  Channing,  Emerson,  and  Theo- 
dore Parker. 

Listen  to  what  Goethe,  certainly  an  unpreju- 
diced thinker,  said,  in  a  private  conversation  :  — 

"I  should  be  the  very  last  man  to  be  willing  to  dispense 

22 


338  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

with  faith  in  a  future  hfe.  Nay,  I  would  say  with  Lorenzo 
di  Medici,  that  all  those  are  dead,  even  for  the  present 
life,  who  do  not  believe  in  another.  I  have  a  firm  con- 
viction that  our  soul  is  an  existence  of  an  indestructible 
nature,  whose  working  is  from  eternity  to  eternity.  It  is 
like  the  sun,  which  seems  indeed  to  set,  but  really  never 
sets,  shining  on  in  unchangeable  splendor." 

The  last  great  postulate  of  science,  the  persist- 
ence of  force,  is  a  new  proof  of  immortality.  For 
spiritual  force  is  the  only  force  we  really  know. 
We  only  know  force  at  all  by  the  consciousness  of 
the  efforts  which  we  put  forth  from  that  mysterious 
centre  of  existence,  the  soul.  And  if  this  force  is 
persistent,  then  the  soul  must  continue.  If  any 
one  asks  me  how  I  know  that  I  have  a  soul,  the 
reply  is  that  I  know  it  by  a  surer  evidence  than  I 
know  my  body.  I  know  of  body  by  the  sensations 
and  thoughts  which  it  awakens  in  my  soul.  We 
know  the  soul  at  first-hand ;  but  matter  we  know 
only  at  second-hand. 

If  any  one  says,  "  There  is  no  thought  without 
molecular  movements  in  the  brain ;  no  conscious- 
ness unless  the  body  is  in  order ;  in  short,  that  the 
soul  depends  for  its  activity  here  and  now  on  the 
condition  of  the  body,"  we  readily  admit  it.  But 
what  then?  The  very  point  to  be  proved  is: 
"Will  the  soul  hereafter  need  this  present  body 
with  which  to  act  ?  "  To  say  that  it  will  is  a  pure 
assumption,  an  argument  from  ignorance  to  knowl- 
edgre. 


THE   IDEA    OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  339 

§  10.   Two  sources  ofheliefin  a  future  existence. 

In  truth  this  is  a  case  in  which  instinct  is  hii>:her 
and  surer  than  reasoning.  Many  philosophical  and 
metaphysical  arguments  can  be  brought  to  prove 
immortality  or  the  opposite.  But  neither  does  the 
one  kind  convince  us  that  we  are  to  live,  nor  does 
the  other  persuade  us  that  when  we  die  we  die  for- 
ever. Our  conviction  of  a  future  life  comes  from 
two  sources  :  a  consciousness  of  the  personality  and 
activity  of  the  soul,  which  is  the  instinct  of  immor- 
tality ;  and  faith  in  God  as  a  wise  and  loving  father. 
If  there  be  a  God,  all-wise  and  all-good,  then  he 
cannot  have  created  mind,  the  hio-hest  thinor  we 
have  in  the  universe,  and  educated  it  by  all  the 
experiences  of  life,  all  the  long  development  of 
humanity,  to  let  it  come  suddenly  to  an  end  at  the 
very  moment  when  it  is  in  its  fullest  activity. 

Nor,  if  there  be  a  God,  could  he  have  put  into 
the  soul  this  longing  for  continued  existence,  and 
this  faith  in  a  hereafter,  merely  to  deceive  and 
delude  us.  What  an  inconsequence,  to  make  men 
to  live  a  few  brief  years,  and  then  perish  forever, 
and  meantime  to  put  into  their  minds  the  universal 
conviction  that  they  are  to  live  hereafter !  Even 
we  ourselves  take  a  certain  pride  and  pleasure  in 
wdiat  we  have  made.  We  do  not  willingly  destroy 
anything  on  which  we  have  expended  thought  and 
love.    Will  God  create  souls  with  these  noble  pow- 


340  TEJq-    GREAT   EELIGIOXS. 

ers,  with  minds  capable  of  reading  the  laws  of  the 
universe,  consciences  able  to  cleave  to  the  rig-ht  in 
the  midst  of  temptation,  hearts  made  to  love  him, 
and  then  throw  them  carelessly  away  as  of  no  value 
in  his  eyes  ?  I  could  sooner  believe  that  he  does 
not  let  anything  die.  I  would  sooner  believe  that 
every  animal  down  to  the  smallest  insect  has  an 
immortal  soul,  fitted  to  ascend  higher  and  higher, 
through  innumerable  bodies,  than  that  God  will 
destroy  the  human  mind  and  human  heart. 

Everything  here  in  our  life  is  only  just  begun. 
We  have  just  begun  to  understand  a  little  of  the 
mystery  of  creation ;  begun  to  adore  the  ineffable 
beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  universe.  Shall  all 
this  knowledge,  aspiration,  energy,  be  stopped  at 
its  very  commencement  ? 

We  admire  and  reverence  great  souls.  We  learn 
to  know  and  love  the  pure,  the  generous,  the  self- 
denying,  the  good.  In  the  midst  of  their  noblest 
work  they  are  taken  away.  We  say.  Why  is  this  ? 
and  the  answer  is,  because  there  is  another  and 
higher  world  to  which  they  have  gone,  other  and 
higher  duties,  other  and  sweeter  joys.  This  satis- 
fies both  our  mind  and  heart.  But  if  death  ends 
all,  then  life  becomes,  not  merely  an  inexplicable 
mystery,  but  an  unmeaning  tissue  of  contradic- 
tions. 

Finally  w^e  are  made  to  love,  with  undying  and 
indestructible  affections.    Our  beloved  ones  go,  and 


THE  IDEA  OF  A  FUTURE  STATE.      341 

as  the  years  pass,  we  love  them  not  less  but  more. 
They  live  in  our  hearts  forever.  Why  did  God 
make  us  thus,  if  we  are  never  to  see  them  again  ? 

All  then,  finally,  resolves  itseK  into  this :  faith 
in  immortality  is  inseparably  connected  with  faith 
in  God,  and  the  higher  we  go  up,  the  nobler  our 
faith  becomes,  the  more  sure  we  are  of  immortal 
life.  The  highest  being  who  ever  lived  on  earth, 
was  the  surest  of  all.  To  him  death  was  nothing, 
only  a  transient  sleep. 

§  11.  3Iodern  scientific  unbelief.     Spiritualism^  and  its 

evidences. 

It  is  a  somewhat  striking  fact,  however,  that  at 
the  present  time  we  see  two  movements  of  thought, 
two  great  currents  of  opinion,  in  exactly  opposite 
directions.  One  is  the  Eno-lish  and  German  unbe- 
lief  in  a  future  life,  based  on  certain  scientific  facts 
or  theories.  The  other  is  the  new  faith  in  a  here- 
after, founded  on  a  supposed  intercourse  with  the 
world  of  spirits. 

A  laro;e  number  of  serious  scientific  thinkers 
have  come  to  question  immortality,  and  even  to 
declare  it  an  impossibility,  because  they  think  it 
contrary  to  the  facts  of  physical  science.  A  recent 
English  work  tells  us  that  "  our  positive  scientific 
thinkers,  reasoning  independently  from  the  veri- 
fied conclusions  of  science,  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  belief  in  a  future  life  must  be 


342  TE>^    GREAT    EELIGIOXS. 

finally  given  np.  A  cunning  arrangement  of  mate- 
rial  atoms  is  the  essence  of  all  the  phenomena  of 
life,  and  their  disarrangement  must  be  the  end  of 
it  all."  These  thinkers  deny  that  there  is  any 
real  self,  or  ego  in  man,  independent  of  the  body. 
Thought,  emotion,  volition,  are  inseparably  bound 
up  with  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  whose  func- 
tions they  are,  just  as  it  is  the  function  of  the  heart 
to  pump  up  the  blood,  and  of  the  lungs  to  oxygen- 
ate it.  Thought  cannot  go  on  without  the  brain, 
which  is  the  thinking  organ.  It  is  incredible  and 
impossible  that  man  should  live  again. 

Meantime,  as  if  by  a  natural  reaction  against  this 
doctrine  of  despair,  or  as  if  sent  by  Providence  to 
save  mankind  from  such  dreary  unbelief,  there  has 
grown  up  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world  a  vast 
faith  in  an  actual  present  intercourse  with  the 
souls  of  the  departed.  There  are  probably  many 
millions  who  are  convinced  that  they  talk  with  dis- 
embodied-spirits just  as  certainly  as  they  talk  with 
those  in  the  body.  Nor  is  this  altogether  a  new 
faith,  though  it  has  increased  very  rapidly  within 
a  few  years.  There  are  on  record,  in  all  times, 
numerous  instances  of  sinjilar  intercourse.  To 
those  who  believe,  as  I  do,  in  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  souls  after  death,  and  also  that  they  may 
be  still  near  to  us,  there  is  no  antecedent  impossi- 
bility or  even  improbability  in  such  intercourse. 
All  we  want  is  to  have  sufficient  evidence  of  it. 


THE    IDEA   OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  343 

The  difficulty  in  obtaining  such  evidence  arises 
from  the  fact  that  most  people  are  so  credulous, 
so  easy  to  be  deluded,  so  ready  to  deceive  them- 
selves, and  are  such  inaccurate  observers.  I  am 
not  implying  anything  disrespectful  to  mankind  in 
saying  this.  I  include  myself  in  the  same  cate- 
gory. It  requires  trained  habits  of  observation  to 
verify  such  facts.  I  have  been  present  on  many 
occasions  at  spiritual  seances,  and  have  seen  many 
inexplicable  phenomena.  But  I  have  also  wit- 
nessed a  great  deal  of  delusion  and  some  positive 
deception,  so  that  I  do  not  feel  qualified  to  decide 
how  much  or  how  little  of  truth  there  may  be  in 
such  supposed  intercourse.  I  should  be  glad  to 
believe  in  it,  especially  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  are  deficient  in  the  instinct  of  immortality, 
or  who  have  not  much  faith  in  the  divine  presence 
and  love.  But  I  confess  that  what  I  have  seen  in 
this  movement  has  not  been  very  edifying. 

That  which  commonly  comes  from  what  is  called 
Spiritualism  has  a  negative  value ;  it  produces  a 
conviction  that  death  is  not  the  end  of  our  beins-. 
It  has  not,  as  yet,  revealed  much  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  hereafter.  Perhaps  it  is  not  meant 
that  we  should  think  about  it,  Avhile  immersed  in 
the  pursuits  and  duties  of  the  present  life.  It 
might  take  our  minds  too  far  away  from  what  we 
oug-ht  to  be  doino;  now.  It  seems  evident,  from 
man's  experience,  that  he  was  made  to  believe  in 


344  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIOJfS. 

a  future  life,  but  was  not  made  to  know  much 
about  it.  We  know  enough  when  we  know  this : 
that  since  God  sends  death  to  all  his  creatures,  as 
he  sends  life  to  all,  it  must  be  just  as  great  a 
blessing  to  die  as  it  is  to  live,  perhaps  greater. 
And  we  also  know  that  the  same  Beino-  who  has 
made  this  world,  —  with  all  its  variety  and  beauty, 
all  its  opportunities  for  knowledge,  work,  growth, 
love,  —  has  made  all  other  worlds.  We  shall  not 
go  away  from  his  presence,  or  his  care,  no  matter 
where  we  go. 

In  all  times,  then,  and  in  all  lands,  men  have 
believed  and  continue  to  believe  in  a  future  life. 
The  only  exceptions  are  in  the  case  of  those  too 
much  immersed  in  sense,  or  too  stupefied  by  igno- 
rance to  rise  to  the  conception ;  and  in  those  who, 
following  some  narrow  path  of  reasoning,  suppose 
themselves  logically  obliged  to  disbelieve.  Mean- 
time the  race  looks  across  the  boundary,  and 
reaches  out  its  longings  and  hopes  into  the  great 
beyond. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  Blanco  White's 
lines  on  this  great  theme.  Coleridge  and  Leigh 
Hunt  both  have  called  it  the  finest  sonnet  in  the 
English  language.  Without  going  so  far  as  this, 
we  must  at  least  admit  that  it  is  one  of  the  best, 
and  it  is  truly  wonderful  that  a  native  of  Spain, 
brought  up  to  manhood  only  speaking  the  Span- 
ish language,  should  have  written  one  of  the  best 
sonnets  in  another  tongue :  — 


THE   IDEA   OF   A   FUTURE    STATE.  345 

"  Mysterious  night !     When  our  first  parent  knew 
Thee  from  report  divine,  and  heard  thy  name, 
Did  he  not  tremble  for  this  lovely  frame, 
This  glorious  canopy  of  light  and  blue? 
Yet,  'neath  the  curtain  of  translucent  dew. 
Bathed  in  the  rays  of  the  great  setting  flame, 
Hesperus  with  the  host  of  heaven  came, 
And  lo!  creation  widened  in  man's  view. 
Who  could  have  thought  such  darkness  lay  concealed 
Within  thy  beams,  O  Sun!  or  who  could  find. 
While  fly,  and  leaf,  and  insect  lay  revealed, 
That  to  such  countless  orbs  thou  mad'st  us  blind! 
Why  do  we,  then,  shun  death  with  anxious  strife? 
If  Light  can  thus  deceive,  wherefore  not  Life  ?  " 


346  TEN    GREAT   RELIGIONS . 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE   FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MANKIND. 

§  1.  Man  a  religious  being.  His  continued  interest  in  relig- 
ious questions.  §  2.  Religious  faith  necessary  to  progress 
in  Science,  Literature,  and  Art.  Individualism  insufficient. 
§  3.  The  essence  of  Christianity.  §  4.  Christianity  the  re- 
ligion of  Civilized  Man.  §  5.  Progress  and  power  of  Chris- 
tian Nations.  §  6.  Chief  of  the  three  Catholic  Religions.  §  7. 
Its  fullness  of  life.  §  8.  Its  corruptions.  Their  origin  in  its 
power  of  assimilation.  Persecution.  Monasticism.  §  9.  Will 
the  basis  of  the  church  of  humanity  be  a  Ritual,  a  Creed,  or 
a  Person  ?  §  10.  The  personality  of  Jesus.  Examples  of 
the  influence  of  Prophets  on  national  life.  §  11.  Will  the 
world  outgrow  the  teaching  of  Jesus  ?     Future  prospects. 

§  1.  Man  a  religious  being.     His  continued   interest  in 

religious  questions. 

TN  this  work  we  have  exammed  several  of  the 
chief  rehgions  of  the  world.  We  have  seen 
pass  before  us,  in  majestic  march,  the  grand  faiths 
of  mankind,  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism,  the  sys- 
tems of  Zoroaster,  Moses,  and  Mohammed,  the  re- 
ligions of  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Scandinavia ;  and 
now  we  have  to  institute  a  brief  comparison  be- 
tween Christianity  and  those  other  forms  of  human 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         347 

faith,  to  see  what  right,  if  any,  Christianity  has 
to  claim  superiority  over  the  others. 

But  before  proceeding  to  give  an  opinion  on 
this  subject,  I  wish  to  make  one  or  two  prehmi- 
nary  remarks. 

First,  our  studies  must  have  impressed  us  with 
the  conviction  that  man  is  a  relio-ious  beins;,  and 
that  he  cannot  do  without  relig:ion.  Lono;  before 
he  can  secure  the  comforts  and  luxuries,  or  even 
what  we  consider  the  necessaries  of  life,  he  bei>:ins 
to  adore  the  invisible,  to  pray  to  some  unseen 
power.  He  finds  that  he  cannot  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  also  needs  some  word  which  proceeds 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God.  Half-starved  savacres 
Avorship  ;  all  the  races  of  men  worship  ;  the  most 
civilized  portions  of  the  earth  worship ;  worship 
reaches  back  to  the  beginning  of  history.  Thou- 
sands of  3^ears  before  Christ,  our  Aryan  ancestors 
worshipped  on  the  plateau  of  Central  Asia ;  the 
Chinese  worshipped  on  the  Hoang-Ho  and  Yang- 
tze-Kiang,  the  Hindus  on  the  Ganges,  the  He- 
brews, Assyrians,  and  Babylonians  on  the  Eu- 
phrates and  Tigris,  the  Egyptians  on  the  Nile, — 
and  there  are  no  symptoms  that  this  religious  need 
is  less  at  the  present  time. 

Looking  at  the  history  of  the  w^orld  from  the  be- 
ginning, we  may  say  that  religion  has  been  and  is 
the  chief  concern  of  mankind. 

And  it  is  not  only  of  great  interest  to  those  who 


348  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

need  its  comfort,  guidance,  and  strength.  It  is  not 
simplj  that  it  feeds  the  soul  with  bread  from 
heaven,  gives  increased  peace  and  joy  to  those  on 
whom  society  lays  hard  burdens,  brings  consola- 
tion to  the  wounded  heart,  but  it  also  continues  to 
be  the  most  interesting  subject  of  intellectual  in- 
vestigation. After  all  the  speculations  of  thou- 
sands of  years  in  regard  to  creation  and  provi- 
dence, God  and  immortality,  there  are  still  no 
more  interesting  questions  than  these.  The  Posi- 
tivists  have  told  us  that  man  goes  through  three 
stages  of  thought :  (1)  Theological,  (2)  Metaphys- 
ical, and  (3)  Scientific;  and  that  we  have  now 
passed  out  of  the  two  first  into  the  last,  in  which 
only  scientific  questions  are  interesting.  But  the 
curious  fact  is,  that  science  itself  has  gone  largely 
into  religious  and  metaphysical  investigations. 
Tyndall  publishes  a  volume  which  he  calls  "  Frag- 
ments of  Science  "  in  which  one  essay  is  on 
"  Prayer,"  another  on  "  Miracles  and  Special  Prov- 
idence," and  another  on  the  appearance  of  Spirits. 
Darwin  gives  us  a  new  cosmogony  or  origin  of 
things,  and  sets  all  the  world  to  discuss  again  old 
questions  concerning  creation.  Professor  Clifford, 
an  eminent  scientist,  writes  about  the  ethics  of  re- 
ligion, and  the  influence  on  morality  of  a  decline 
in  religious  belief.  Huxley  publishes  almost  as 
many  papers  on  religious  as  on  scientific  questions. 
If   any  popular  lecturer  is    anxious  to  secure  an 


THE   FUTUKE   KELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         349 

overflowing  audience  he  has  only  to  take  for  his 
subject  the  mistakes  of  Moses,  or  to  deny  some 
fundamental  points  of  religious  belief.  It  does  not 
then  appear  that  human  interest  has  passed  from 
religious  questions  to  those  of  science.  One  writer 
lately  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  world  had 
lost  its  interest  in  religion,  on  the  ground  that  the 
churches  in  Boston  and  Chicago  were  never  well 
filled.  If  he  had  consulted  the  United  States  cen- 
sus he  would  have  seen  that  the  basis  of  his  induc- 
tion was  too  narrow  ;  and  that,  taking  the  whole 
United  States  during  a  decade  of  years,  there  has 
been  a  constant  and  large  increase  in  the  amount 
of  church  property,  church  accommodation,  and 
church  attendance. 

Some  people  think  that  science,  art,  literature, 
and  philanthropy  may  take  the  place  of  religion. 
But  each  of  these  occupies  its  own  department, 
each  meets  a  separate  need  of  the  human  soul. 
Science  can  no  more  take  the  place  of  religion 
than  religion  can  take  the  place  of  science. 
Knowledge  belongs  to  one  region  of  the  soul, 
faith,  hope,  and  love  to  another.  Physical  science 
teaches  us  the  facts  and  laws  of  the  outward  vis- 
ible universe.  Religion  teaches  us  the  facts  and 
laws  of  the  unseen  and  eternal  world. 


o 


50  TEX    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 


§  3.  Religious  faith  necessary  to  progress  in  science,  lit- 
erature, and  art.     Individualism  insufficient. 

More  than  this.  It  is  highly  probable  that  man, 
if  deprived  of  religious  faith,  would  after  a  while 
cease  to  have  any  science,  art,  literature,  or  phi- 
lanthropy. For,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  course 
of  this  work,  the  deep  power  which  moves  this 
world  is  faith  in  another  worlds  Thus  far  history 
has  shown  us  religion  as  the  root  of  civilization. 
And  it  is  so  still,  whether  men  are  conscious  of  it 
or  not.  Take  away  religious  hope  from  man  ;  con- 
fine him  to  the  present  world  and  the  present  life ; 
and  deprive  him  of  his  faith  in  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, a  guardian  care,  a  progress  upward  of  all 
being,  a  heavenly  world  beyond  of  purer  joys  and 
nobler  love,  and  he  would  probably  lose  his  inter- 
est even  in  this  life.  There  is  profound  signifi- 
cance in  the  text  which  speaks  of  certain  persons 
as  being  "  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the 
world."  Man  is  so  great  that  unless  he  can  lay 
hold  of  the  infinite  he  soon  tires  of  the  finite.  In 
a  universe  of  dead  laws  and  iron  fate,  of  matter 
and  force,  a  world  without  meaning,  purpose,  or 
love,  men  would  not  care  enough  for  anything  to 
pursue  science,  art,  literature,  or  philanthropy. 
For  a  time,  indeed,  from  force  of  habit  and  from 
the  acquired  faith  of  the  past,  from  habits  of  hope 
stored   up   in   the    soul,  an   atheistic   community 


THE    FUTURE    EELIGIOJT    OF   MANKIXD.         351 

might  continue  to  think  and  work  as  before.  But 
they  would  be  like  people  living  on  their  capital, 
instead  of  on  their  income.  The  old  stock  of  be- 
liefs, inherited  from  the  past,  would  soon  be  used 
up,  and  then  the  legitimate  fruits  of  the  death  of 
faith  in  anything  divine  would  appear  in  a  steadily 
increasing  weariness  and  indifference  to  life.  A 
train  will  run  some  time  after  the  eng^ine  is  taken 
off,  from  acquired  momentum,  but  it  gradually 
moves  more  and  more  slowly,  and  at  last  stops. 

Nor  will  the  needs  of  the  relio;ious  nature  be 
met  by  any  voluntary  association  assembled  for 
free  inquiry  in  religious  matters.  Freedom  alone 
tends  to  pure  atomism  ;  it  will  turn  an  association 
into  a  heap  of  sand  ;  it  cannot  organize  life.  And 
without  life  no  growth,  progress,  or  development. 
Religion  must  be  free ;  but  then  it  must  be  relig- 
ion first,  in  order  to  be  free  at  last.  And  religion 
is  faith  in  something;  divine.  Men  united  in  some 
common  faith  may  freely  develop  that  faith.  Tiie 
religious  nature,  for  its  growth  and  satisfaction, 
needs  union,  cooperation,  and  sympathy.  Human 
beings  can  no  more  develop  the  religious  life  alone 
than  they  can  develop  civilization,  art,  science,  and 
literature.  Robinson  Crusoe  on  his  desert  island 
might  reproduce  some  of  the  arts  of  life  which  he 
had  learned  before  in  the  society  of  man.  Tlie 
anchorites  in  the  desert  might  reproduce  there 
some  of    the  relisrious  emotions  which  they  took 


352  TE^    GEE  AT    RELIGIONS. 

with  them  from  their  former  Christian  education. 
But  neither  did  the  anchorite  nor  Robinson  Crusoe 
make  much  progress,  and  both  were  glad  to  get 
back  to  some  hitman  companionship.  Individual- 
ism in  religion,  as  in  the  desolate  island,  may  cry  — 

"  I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey, 
My  right  there  is  none  to  dispute  "  — 

But  it  pays  the  penalty  of  that  autocratic  suprem- 
acy when  forced  to  add,  — 

*'  I  am  out  of  humanity's  reach, 
I  must  finish  my  journey  alone." 

Pure  individualism  will  never  be  the  relio-ion 
of  the  future.  To  freedom  there  must  be  added 
union,  cooperation,  some  kind  of  church  relation, 
and  brotherhood. 

Man  will  always  have  a  religion  and  religious 
faith.  The  question  is,  "  What  faith  will  it  be  ?  " 
We  have  examined  the  other  religions  with  some 
minuteness,  but  have  not  thus  far  inquired  into 
the  nature  or  future  of  our  own  rehgion.  What  is 
the  relation  of  Christianity,  then,  to  other  relig- 
ions, and  what  reason  is  there  to  think  that  Chris- 
tianity, in  some  form,  will  become  the  faith  of 
mankind  ? 

§  3.   TJie  essence  of  Christianity/. 

But  first  we  must  endeavor  to  define  Christian- 
ity, and  say  what  it  is  and  what  it  is  not.  The  es- 
sence  of    Christianity  cannot,  perhaps,  be  better 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGIOX    OF   MAXKIXD.  353 

stated  than  in  the  famous  words  of  a  high  Roman 
Cathohc  authority.  Essential  Christianity  is  that 
which  has  been  received  by  all  Christians,  always 
and  in  all  places  :  "  Quod  uhiqiie,  quod  semioer, 
quod  ah  omnihus'^ 

It  follows  that  no  one  church  is  the  exclusive 
and  only  church,  for  no  one  church  has  ever  in- 
cluded all  Christians.  No  one  creed  is  the  exclu- 
sive and  only  creed,  for  there  have  always  been 
those  who  rejected  it.  Christianity  is  rather  a 
spirit  of  life,  which  has  come  to  us  from  the  first 
century,  a  method  of  feeling,  thinking,  and  acting. 
It  has  always  held  to  Jesus  as  its  founder,  teacher, 
and  leader.  It  has  always  worshipped  one  God, 
the  Father.  It  has  clung  to  the  law  of  love,  as  the 
rule  of  duty.  It  has  had  faith  in  an  immortal  life 
beyond  and  above  this.  These  sentiments  and 
convictions  have  been  held  by  all  Christians,  ev- 
erywhere, and  always  ;  and  will  therefore,  proba- 
bly, last  as  long  as  Christianity  lasts.  Taking 
Christianity  in  this  large  way,  and  including  in  its 
sphere  all  professed  believers  in  Christianity,  and 
also  the  Christendom  which  holds  by  Christ's  name, 
we  shall  see  that  Christianity  differs  from  other  re- 
ligions in  some  very  important  particulars. 

§  4.    Christianity  the  religion  of  civilized  man. 

Christianity  is  the  religion  of  the  mo.-^t  civihzed 
and  the  only  progressive   nations  of   the   world. 

23 


354  TEN"    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

Other  forms  of  civilization  have  been  arrested  or 
have  come  to  an  end.  The  wonderful  develop- 
ment of  knowledge,  art,  power,  industrial  progress 
in  ancient  Egypt,  gradually  faded  away.  So  it 
was  with  the  national  life  of  Greece  and  of  Rome, 
of  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phoenicia,  and  Persia.  That 
of  China  has  been  long  arrested,  and  has  remained 
motionless.  That  of  India,  after  a  long  period  of 
intellectual  growth,  entered  upon  a  season  of  di- 
lapidation and  decay.  Mohammedanism  no  longer 
makes  much  progress.  Its  early  life  has  died  out 
of  it.  Buddhism  has  also  long  since  ceased  from 
further  advances,  and  remains  in  a  condition  of 
apathy.  But  Christian  civilization  is  still  progres- 
sive. Whether  there  is  anything  in  it  to  prevent 
its  sharing  the  fate  of  the  others,  remains  to  be 
seen.  But  at  present,  we  may  certainly  say  that 
the  Christian  religion,  and  Christian  civilization, 
are  the  only  ones  which  are  in  a  condition  of  con- 
stant progress. 

§  5.  Progress  and  power  of  Christian  nations. 

Among  the  religions  and  civilizations  of  earth, 
one,  and  only  one,  continues  to  make  progress  out- 
wardly and  inwardly ;  by  new  developments  within 
and  new  accessions  of  power  without.  The  evi- 
dent fact  in  the  history  of  mankind  is,  that  Chris- 
tianity and  Christendom  alone  are  in  a  state  of 
steady  development  and  progress.    Every  country 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         355 

which  professes  the  Christian  faith  is  advancintr, 
all  others  are  relatively  stagnant.  In  Christian 
states,  the  vast  increase  of  wealth  has  not  brought 
enervating  luxury  or  weakness.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  little  island  of  England,  possessing  incredi- 
ble wealth,  are  able  to  conquer  and  keep  posses- 
sion of  vast  continents,  and  to  master  populations 
ten  times  more  numerous  than  their  own.  The 
islands  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  contain  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  square  miles, 
and  they  govern  countries  which  contain  eight 
million  square  miles.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
United  Kingdom  are  thirty-one  millions;  they  rule 
in  Asia,  Africa,  Australia,  Oceanica,  and  America, 
two  hundred  millions  of  people.  And  yet  Great 
Britain  is  not  at  the  head  of  the  Christian  powers 
of  Europe  to-c]ay.  The  power  of  Christendom  is 
vastly  greater  than  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the 
world  combined.  This  power  is  accompanied  with 
wealth,  with  means  of  enjoyment,  comfort,  luxury ; 
in  comparison  with  which  the  heaped-up  treasures 
of  oriental  despots  are  pauperism.  The  experience 
of  all  nations  outside  of  Christendom  has  been  that 
power  brought  wealth,  wealth  brought  luxury,  lux- 
ury brought  weakness  and  ruin.  Thus  far  there 
are  no  symptons  of  such  results  in  European  civ- 
ilization. The  young  aristocracy  of  England  are, 
on  the  whole,  as  full  of  energy  as  thougli  they 
were  young  savages.    They  spend  their  superlluous 


356  te:n^  great  religion's. 

strength  not  only  in  athletic  exercises  at  home, 
boating,  hunting,  etc.,  but  they  climb  mountains 
in  Himalaya  and  Colorado,  shoot  tigers  in  India, 
and  rhinoceroses  in  Africa,  throw  themselves  on 
grim  death  in  Balaklava  charges,  and  lead  the  for- 
lorn hope  in  Abyssinia  or  Afghanistan. 

Christendom  is  a  confederation  of  mighty  na- 
tions, armed  with  power  which  defies  the  danger 
of  any  future  overflow  of  barbaric  conquerors. 
Were  it  possible  for  new  hordes,  hke  the  Goths, 
Huns,  or  Saracens,  to  renew  the  assaults  on  Chris- 
tendom which  threatened  its  life  in  the  fifth  and 
eighth  centuries,  such  attacks  would  now  be  ridic- 
ulous. Either  one  of  five  or  six  nations  in  Chris- 
tendom could  now  defeat  Alaric,  Attala,  or  Saladin. 
But  besides  this  vast  force  organized  in  national 
life,  and  besides  the  great  wealth  of  these  nations, 
the  only  progress  now  seen  in  science,  art,  and  lit- 
erature belongs  to  the  same  Christian  groups  of 
nations.  What  discoveries  are  made  to-day  in 
Arabian  observatories  ?  Who  goes  to  the  univer- 
sities of  China  to  learn  science  ?  Where  were  in- 
vented the  electric  telegraph,  the  steam-engine, 
the  locomotive  and  railroad,  the  daguerreotype,  the 
photograph,  the  spectroscope  ?  In  Christendom 
only.  Who  have  deciphered  the  hieroglyphics  of 
Egyptian  monuments,  the  cuneiform  inscriptions 
on  the  rocks  of  Behistan  ?  Who  have  rediscovered 
Nineveh  and  the  site  of  Troy  ;  the  temple  of  Eph- 


THE   FUTUKE   KELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         357 

esus  and  the  treasury  of  the  Atrides  at  Argos  ? 
The  scholars  of  Christendom.  Where  are  the  chief 
manufactures  and  commerce  of  the  world  ?  In 
Christendom. 

Again,  we  ask,  where  are  we  to  go  for  good 
governments,  for  well-organized  nationalities,  for 
governments  of  laws  not  men,  for  political  institu- 
tions which  unite  order  and  freedom,  liberty  and 
law  ?  Still,  we  may  say,  these  are  found  among 
Christian  nations,  not  outside  of  them  ;  strictly  co- 
extensive with  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Christian  Scriptures. 

And  finally,  I  ask,  w^here  are  the  only  persist- 
ent, systematic,  and  scientific  attempts  made  to 
relieve  the  human  race  from  the  great  miseries 
and  wrongs  under  which  it  has  groaned  from  the 
beginning  :  from  war,  from  slavery,  pauperism, 
crime,  disease  ?  War  has  not  ceased,  but  it  has 
been  restrained  and  regulated.  The  great  nations 
of  Europe  have  what  they  call  the  "  balance  of 
power,"  which  means  that  no  one  or  two  of  them 
shall  unite  to  oppress  the  rest.  The  idea  of  peace, 
the  desire  for  peace,  the  general  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  peace,  is  the  prevailing  sentiment  in 
all  Christian  countries.  Just  as  slavery  has  been 
overthrown  by  these  sentiments  and  convictions, 
so  will  war  be  overthrown.  Ideas  make  and  un- 
make institutions.  Fill  the  world  with  an  idea, 
and  the  appropriate  outward  result  must  follow. 


358  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

The  ideas  of  universal  peace,  of  social  progress,  of 
philanthropy,  of  reform  schools,  of  universal  edu- 
cation ;  these,  to-day,  fill  the  minds  not  only  of  ad- 
vanced thinkers,  but  make  the  warp  and  woof  of 
public  opinion. 

Thus  while  all  other  forms  of  human  civilization 
are  arrested  and  stationary,  or  else  have  come  to 
an  end,  Christendom  is  advancing,  in  wealth, 
power,  science,  art,  social  improvements,  develop- 
ment of  industry  and  new  inventions  and  discov- 
eries. In  the  nations  which  profess  Christianity 
there  is  a  motive  power  at  work  not  to  be  found 
outside  of  them.  Exactly  those  nations  which 
profess  the  Christian  religion  are  actuated  by  this 
spirit  of  progress,  and  those  outside  of  Christianity 
are  mostly  in  a  condition  of  relative  stagnation. 
Is  this,  then,  merely  an  accidental  coincidence,  or 
is  there  anything  in  their  faith  which  is  the  spring 
of  this  progress  ? 

Without  assuming  now  that  Christianity,  as  a 
faith,  is  the  cause  of  Christian  civilization,  we  must 
agree  at  least  that  the  two  are  associated  together 
and  in  sympathy.  Christianity  goes  with  the  most 
advanced  civilization  of  the  world.  The  two  seem 
certainly  to  belong  together.  Every  Christian 
country  England,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain, 
Norway,  Denmark,  Russia,  Austria,  Greece,  and^ 
the  States  of  North  and  South  America,  have  some 
common  features  which  difference  them  from  the 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF    MANKIND.  359 

nations  outside  of  their  comInunit3^  Ciiristian  na- 
tions are  governed  by  law  ;  even  despotisms  like 
Russia  and  Austria  are  despotisms  tempered  by 
law.  In  Christian  nations  law  stands  above  kinsrs 
and  rulers,  in  other  parts  of  the  world  the  will  of 
the  ruler  stands  above  law.  Every  one  of  the 
twenty  or  more  states  which  profess  Christianity 
is  making  progress  in  government,  law,  popular 
education,  art,  literature,  and  efforts  to  humanize, 
reform,  and  elevate  man.  None  of  the  nations 
outside  are  thus  progressive.  This  association  of 
Christianity  and  progress  can  hardly  be  an  acci- 
dent. 

§  6.   Chief  of  the  three  Catholic  Religions. 

The  second  peculiarity  of  Christianity  is  that  it 
is  the  chief  among  the  catholic  religions ;  that  is, 
of  those  which  overleap  the  boundaries  of  race  and 
nation,  and  aim  at  converting  all  races.  Most  of 
the  religions  are  ethnic,  or  confined  to  a  single 
race  or  nation.  Thus  Brahmanism  never  went  out 
of  India;  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  was  confined  to 
the  Persians,  that  of  Egypt  to  the  Egyptians,  that 
of  Greece  to  the  Hellenic  races,  that  of  Rome  to 
the  Latin  races,  that  of  the  Eddas  to  the  Teutonic 
nationalities,  that  of  the  Druids  to  the  Keltic 
tribes.  Each  of  these  was  limited  by  the  bounda- 
-  ries  of  a  race  or  nation,  and  never  sought  to  go  be- 
yond them.  Even  Buddhism,  which  lias  many  of 
the  traits  of  a  catholic  religion  and  which  has  con- 


360  TEX    GREAT    EELIGIOJ^TS. 

Yerted  many  nationalities,  has  never  succeeded  in 
making  converts  outside  of  the  great  Mongol  race. 
We  may  say  that  only  Judaism,  Christianity,  and 
Mohammedanism  are  truly  and  absolutely  catholic 
religions. 

These  three  have  attempted  to  convert  different 
races,  and  have  succeeded  in  doing  so.  The  Jews 
compassed  sea  and  land  to  make  proselytes  ;  that 
which  marred  the  catholicity  of  their  work  was 
that  they  insisted  on  making  proselytes  to  their 
outward  visible  church,  instead  of  makins;  converts 
to  God.  The  Mohammedans  afterwards  fell  into 
the  same  error.  They  wished  to  make,  not  con- 
verts, but  subjects.  They  were  satisfied  with  out- 
ward conformity,  and  so  neglected  inward  conver- 
sion. Thev  did  not  ask  for  faith,  but  submission. 
This  is  always  the  fault  of  sectarianism,  that  it 
wishes  to  make  proselytes  to  its  sect,  rather  than 
converts  to  truth.  Christians  have  fallen  into  the 
same  condemnation.  But  the  spirit  of  their  relig- 
ion is  much  broader.  This  was  seen  at  first  in 
Christ's  treatment  of  Samaritans,  Romans,  and 
Phoenicians.  It  has  since  appeared  in  all  noble 
missionary  work,  where  the  simple  gospel  of  love 
has  been  carried,  without  regard  to  making  prose- 
lytes. These  three  missionary  religions  are  all 
Monotheisms,  for  only  belief  in  one  God  can 
prompt  the  faith  that  all  mankind  are  his  children, 
and  sustain  the  effort  to  bring  them  all  to  him. 


THE   FUTURE    EELIGIOX    OF   MANKIND.         361 

§  7.  Its  fullness  of  Life. 

A  third  peculiarity  of  Christianity,  which  makes 
it  capable  of  becoming  the  religion  of  mankind,  is 
its  fullness  of  religious  and  moral  life.  By  compar- 
ing it  with  other  religions  we  see  that  it  is  a  ple- 
roma,  possessing  the  truths  and  supplying  the  de- 
ficiencies in  the  other  systems. 

Thus  Brahmanism  is  an  eminently  spiritual  re- 
ligion. Passages  may  be  quoted  from  its  sacred 
books  which  fill  the  soul  with  a  sense  of  a  divine 
presence.  But  it  is  deficient  on  the  human  side. 
Its  system  of  castes  is  a  denial  of  human  brother- 
hood, and  the  source  of  countless  forms  of  inhu- 
manity and  oppression. 

Buddhism  was  a  revolt  from  Brahmanism  be- 
cause of  this  inhumanity.  It  took  the  opposite  di- 
rection, and  has  everywhere  taught  the  brother- 
hood of  man.  It  has  made  the  whole  East  of  Asia 
more  tender  and  less  cruel ;  it  has  softened  the 
hard  hearts  of  the  Mongols,  and  so  has  done  vast 
good.  But  it  has  lost  the  idea  of  the  Infinite  and 
Eternal.  It  loves  man,  but  omits  the  love  of  an 
infinite  God.  Reverent,  humane,  and  moral,  it  is 
weak  on  the  side  of  faith  in  the  Unseen  and  Eter- 
nal. 

The  Egyptian  religion  saw  the  divine  element  in 
nature,  perceived  its  plastic  life,  felt  a  sacred  mys- 
tery in  all  animal  and  vegetable  organization,  but  it 


362  TEN-    GREAT    EELIGIONS. 

missed  unity  in  the  contemplation  of  variety,  and 
became  at  last  a  broken  and  divided  Polytheism. 

The  Greek  religion  beheld  God  revealed  If  man, 
and  made  every  human  form  divine.  The  Greeks 
deified  courage  as  Mars,  wisdom  as  Pallas,  beauty 
as  Aphrodite,  glory  and  art  as  Apollo.  But  they 
also  lost  unity,  and  pushed  separate  qualities  to 
extremes.  This  led  at  last  to  the  dilapidation  and 
decay  of  their  religion  and  national  life. 

Mohammedanism  taught  the  sovereignty  of  God, 
and  represented  him  as  Infinite  Will.  Hence  came 
its  merits  and  its  defects ;  its  power  at  first,  and 
its  weakness  afterward.  Absolute  submission  to 
the  divine  decree  gave  valor  to  the  followers  of 
Omar,  as  it  afterward  inspired  with  like  courage 
the  troops  of  Cromwell.  Looking  at  God  as  Will, 
develops  the  will  of  man,  until  it  passes  into  des- 
potic hardness  and  isolation,  and  so  tends  to  dis- 
solve society  into  mere  lonely  particles. 

When  we  compare  Christianity  with  these  sys- 
tems we  see  how  it  possesses  a  fullness  of  life  which 
includes  and  completes  them  all.  It  has  developed 
a  spiritual  life  in  its  saints  like  that  of  Brahman- 
ism  ;  a  humanity  in  its  philanthropists  which  al- 
lies it  with  Buddhism  ;  a  sense  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence in  nature  and  life,  like  that  of  Egypt ;  it  has, 
like  Greece,  seen  in  the  One  Supreme  Being  the 
human  qualities  of  power,  knowledge,  justice,  love, 
which  the    Greeks  distributed  amono;   their  Pan- 


THE   FUTURE    RELIGION   OF   MANKIND.         363 

theon.  It  has,  with  Ishim,  taught  divine  decrees, 
and  a  divine  predestination,  but  always  has  modi- 
fied the  doctrine  by  leaving  room  for  human  free- 
dom. Thus  Christianity  has  shown  itself  as  a  full- 
ness, a  pleroma,  or,  to  use  the  modern  phrase,  an 
all-sidedness,  which  marks  it  for  a  still  larger  cath- 
olicity hereafter. 

§  8.  Its  corruptions.     Their  origin  in  its  power  of  msim- 
ilation.     Persecution.     Monasticism. 

When  we  speak  of  Christianity  as  all-sided,  and 
hospitable  to  all  truth,  we  shall  immediately  be 
told  that  it  has  been  most  exclusive,  and  that  it 
has  denounced,  persecuted,  and  attempted  to  de- 
stroy all  outside  of  its  own  pale.  It  has  had  its 
crusades  against  Mohammedans  and  Albigenses,  its 
auto-da-fes  of  Jews,  Moors,  and  heretics.  It  has 
burned  witches  and  hung  Quakers.  And  when  I 
say  that  it  is  a  system  which  teaches  a  kingdom  of 
heaven  here,  I  shall  be  told  that  salvation  from  a 
future  hell  into  a  future  heaven  has  been  the  main 
motive  of  its  efforts.  Instead  of  making  religion 
a  part  of  human  life  to  redeem  and  educate  it,  it 
has  taken  it  from  life  into  monasteries  and  nunner- 
ies, and  made  it  consist  not  in  practical  goodness, 
but  ritual,  ceremony,  and  sacraments.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  truth  in  all  this. 

But  I  cling  to  my  definition  of  the  type  of  eacli 
reli^non,  and   I  assert  that  these   tendencies   and 


364  TEN   GREAT   RELIGIONS. 

habits  were  no  part  of  original  Christianity,  and 
have  not  been  permanent  in  it,  but  local  and  tem- 
porary. They  are,  therefore,  corruptions  and  ac- 
cretions, and  not  normal  developments  coming 
properly  from  its  germ. 

That  so  many  of  these  corruptions  are  found  in 
Christianity  results,  in  fact,  from  its  very  catho- 
licity. Its  receptive  power  is  so  great  that  it  easily 
assimilates  from  other  systems  many  kinds  of  be- 
lief and  practice,  and  only  afterward  throws  off 
wdiat  it  finds  out  of  harmony  with  its  own  type. 
Christianity  has  had  its  Papal  inquisitions  and  its 
Protestant  persecutions,  certainly.  But  is  it  not 
evident  that  neither  of  these  were  present  in  its 
original  form  ?  And  is  it  not  also  evident  that 
persecution  has  been  almost  wholly  eliminated 
from  it  at  the  present  time,  by  its  self-reforming 
and  self-purifying  quality  ? 

All  religions,  as  we  have  seen,  divide  them- 
selves into  popular  and  personal ;  that  is,  those 
which  originate  in  a  popular  tendency,  and  those 
which  originate  in  a  single  prophet.  To  the  first 
class  belong  five  great  systems,  namely,  those  of 
India,  Egypt,  Greece,  Eome,  Scandinavia.  In  the 
other  class,  each  founded  by  a  prophet,  are  the  six 
systems,  of  Confucius,  Buddha,  Moses,  Zoroaster, 
Mohammed,  and  Christ. 

Christianity  belongs  to  the  last  class,  each  of 
which  has  its  origin  in  a  prophet,  and  we  are  able 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MAXKIXD.         3C5 

to  study  in  the  life  of  Jesus  the  marks  which  be- 
long to  its  earliest  type.  That  persecution  was 
alien  to  his  idea,  appears  from  such  instances  as 
that  in  which  he  rebukes  the  disciples  for  wishino* 
to  call  down  fire  on  those  who  refused  to  admit 
them,  saying  that  "  the  Son  of  Man  has  not  come 
to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save  them;"  from  his 
commands  to  "  bless  them  that  curse  you,  and  do 
good  to  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and  perse- 
cute you  ;  "  from  his  parable  of  the  Good  Samari- 
tan, his  treatment  of  the  Samaritan  woman,  his 
teaching  that  those  who  had  helped  their  suifering 
brethren  had  really  helped  him  ;  his  announcing 
that  those  should  be  forgiven  wdio  spoke  against 
him,  but  not  those  who  denied  the  spirit  of  truth 
in  their  owm  souls ;  his  declaration  that  "  not 
every  one  who  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  they  who 
do  the  will  of  my  Heavenly  Father." 

Take  another  instance,  Monasticism.  At  one 
period  this  system  almost  took  possession  of  the 
Christian  church,  and  it  still  continues  as  an  im- 
portant element  in  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Greek 
communions.  But  it  is  apparent  that  its  period  of 
supreme  importance  has  passed  by,  and  that  its  in- 
fluence has  long  been  declining.  So  little  power 
has  it  over  the  convictions  of  the  people,  that  the 
governments  of  the  most  Catholic  countries  in  Eu- 
rope have  not  hesitated  to  abolish  the  monasteries, 


366  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS. 

and  to  secularize  their  property ;  and  in  countries 
like  England  and  America  people  no  longer  enter 
these  institutions  to  save  their  souls  by  ascetic 
practices,  but  rather  to  make  themselves  useful  as 
teachers  or  as  nurses.  That  Jesus  never  counte- 
nanced the  idea  which  is  the  root  of  monasticism, 
namely,  that  the  best  way  of  saving  the  soul  is  to 
retire  from  the  world  and  live  a  separate  life  in 
the  practice  of  self-denial,  is  very  plain.  He 
points  out  the  distinction  between  his  own  spirit 
and  that  of  John  the  Baptist  (who  was  an  ancho- 
rite) by  saying :  "  John  the  Baptist  came  neither 
eating  nor  drinking  ;  the  Son  of  Man  has  come 
eating  and  drinking."  His  first  miracle,  of  mak- 
ing wine  at  Cana  (whether  you  call  it  a  fact  or  a 
myth)  shows  that  it  was  a  principle  with  him  not 
to  go  out  of  the  world,  or  to  renounce  innocent 
pleasures  for  religious  purposes.  Unless  he  had 
considered  that  a  principle  was  at  stake,  he  would 
not  have  needlessly  exposed  himself  to  such  cal- 
umnies, for,  as  appears  in  the  incident  of  his  pay- 
ing taxes,  he  did  not  unnecessarily  offend  the  prej- 
udices of  others  merely  to  claim  his  own  rights. 

§  9.    Will  the  basis  of  the  church  of  humanity  he  a  Rit- 
ual^ a  Creeds  or  a  Person  ? 

If  man  then  is  not  only  to  be  always  a  relig- 
ious being,  but  also  needs  religious  institutions,  a 
church,  what  church  shall  he  have  ?     The  basis  of 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF    MANKIND.         3G7 

a  church  union  must  be  one  of  three  things:  (1)  a 
ritual,  or  priesthood  and  form  of  worship ;  (2)  a 
creed,  or  system  of  beUef  ;  (3)  a  personal  prophet. 
Many  religions  have  had  one  of  these,  or  a  combi- 
nation of  them,  for  their  bond  of  union. 

Some  of  those  we  have  been  examining  were 
united  by  a  hierarchy  and  a  ritual.  Such  were 
those  of  Egypt  and  India,  Greece  and  Rome. 
These  had  neither  creed  nor  prophet  for  their 
foundation ;  they  rested  on  priesthood  and  wor- 
ship. A  certain  belief  concerning  the  gods  and  the 
future  life  was  taught  by  the  priests  to  the  people, 
both  in  India  and  Egypt ;  but  the  real  union  was 
the  power  of  the  hierarchy.  All  these  systems 
based  on  ritual  and  priesthood  came  to  an  end. 
The  same  was  the  case  in  Peru  and  Mexico  on  this 
continent.  A  hierarchy  seems  to  sap  the  life  of  a 
nation,  and  at  last  the  nation  and  the  priestly  re- 
ligion go  down  together  in  a  common  fall. 

A  creed,  b}^  itself,  is  quite  inadequate  to  main- 
tain long  the  life  of  a  religion.  A  creed  means  be- 
lief, belief  implies  thought.  As  soon  as  men  begin 
to  think,  they  differ.  All  creeds  tend  toward  a 
multiplication  of  sects  ;  which  in  itself  is  not  an 
evil,  provided  there  is  still  some  common  bond  of 
union  amono;  them.  But  a  creed  alone  will  not 
give  this  union. 

The  strongest  basis  of  union  is  faith  in  a  prophet 
or  inspired  teacher.    The  great  prophetic  religions 


368  te:n'  great  eeligions. 

have  shown  themselves  lasting.  The  systems  of 
Buddha  and  Confucius,  founded  five  centuries  be- 
fore Christ,  are  still  active,  though  not  progressive. 
That  of  Moses,  which  began  a  thousand  years  ear- 
lier than  either,  holds  together  the  six  or  seven 
millions  of  Jews,  in  their  dispersion  over  the  world, 
and  continues  to  maintain  their  national  existence. 
Mohammed  is  a  centre  of  unity  to  a  hundred  mil- 
lion of  disciples  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  Even 
Zoroaster,  wdiose  epoch  goes  far  back  into  times 
before  the  days  of  Moses,  is  still  able  to  unite  a 
few  small  bodies  of  Parsee  disciples  who  read  his 
books  and  maintain  his  teachings  to-day. 

The  religion  of  the  future  is  likely,  therefore,  to 
be  a  prophetic  religion.  And  if  so,  what  inspira- 
tion ever  rose  so  hig-h  as  that  of  Jesus.  Amons;  all 
prophets,  he  by  common  consent  stands  supreme. 
This  is  no  place  to  examine  his  claims  to  preemi- 
nence, nor  is  it  necessary.  Even  those  students  of 
history  who  do  not  claim  to  be  his  discij)les  read- 
ily admit  it. 

§  10.   The  personality  of  Jesus.    Examples  of  the  influence 
of  prophets  on  national  life. 

But  this  we  may  say,  that  from  the  fullness  of 
life  in  the  soul  of  Jesus  has  proceeded  the  fullness 
of  life  in  his  religion.  If  Christianity  does  justice 
to  the  different  sides  of  human  nature,  and  meets 
the  various  needs  of  the  soul,  it  is  because  the  same 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF    MANKIND.         3G9 

all-sided  development  was  in  the  life  of  Jesus  him- 
self. When  he  said  :  "  I  am  not  come  to  destro)', 
but  to  fulfill,"  he  indicated  the  large  character  of 
his  influence  and  work.  He  was  able  to  sympa- 
thize with  all  forms  of  goodness,  to  accept  truth 
from  all  quarters.  His  work  was  not  to  destroy 
anything,  but  to  fulfill  everything  by  supplying  its 
deficiencies. 

In  the  records  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus, 
we  see  a  union  of  those  elements  usually  separated 
in  men.  He  united  love  to  God  with  love  to  man ; 
courage  and  caution  ;  perfect  freedom  from  forms, 
and  reverence  for  the  substance  in  all  forms;  hatred 
for  sin,  and  love  for  the  sinner. 

It  really  seems  as  if  the  soul  of  a  prophet  (as 
that  of  Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Mohammed,  Luther, 
Wesley,  Swedenborg,  Fox,  Channing)  is  like  i\ 
seed,  which  brings  forth  plants  and  fruit  after  its 
kind.  It  has,  wrapped  in  it,  involved  and  latent,  a 
whole  system  of  belief  and  conduct,  which  is  grad- 
ually evolved  in  the  history  of  the  religion.  All 
that  is  essential  in  Mohammedanism  was  in  the 
soul  of  Mohammed ;  all  that  is  essential  in  Bud- 
dhism was  in  Sakya-Muni ;  all  that  is  essential  to 
Judaism  Avas  in  Moses;  all  that  is  essential  in 
Christianity  was  in  Jesus. 

Christianity  is  as  spiritual  as  Brahmanism,  as 
humane  as  Buddhism,  developing  as  much  of  the 
self-denying  and   ascetic  virtues   as  any   religion, 

24 


370  TEN    GKEAT    RELIGIONS. 

yet  also  feeding  the  springs  of  thought,  invention, 
discovery,  of  poetry  and  art,  of  science,  of  earthly 
improvement  and  progress  in  comfort,  luxury,  and 
taste.  Yet  it  does  not  sink,  enervated  and  cor- 
rupted by  luxury,  as  other  civilizations  have  done. 

Christianity  teaches  the  love  of  God  and  love  of 
man,  divine  providence  and  human  freedom,  piety 
and  morality,  self-denial  and  development,  a  king- 
dom of  God  here  and  a  kingdom  of  God  hereafter, 
a  divine  life  now  and  an  immortality  to  come. 

There  is  a  memorable  example  of  the  influence 
of  religion  on  national  life,  in  the  sudden  awaken- 
ing of  the  Arabs  to  a  vast  energy  of  will,  by  the 
teaching  and  life  of  Mohammed.  Here  the  cause 
and  effect  are  seen  in  immediate  relation  one  to 
the  other.  The  Bedouin  tribes,  children  of  Esau 
and  Ishmael,  had  been  roving  their  deserts  during 
twenty  or  thirty  centuries,  with  no  influence  on 
mankind,  until  the  doctrines  of  Mohammed  united 
them  in  one  compact  organization,  inspired  them 
with  a  fiery  enthusiasm,  and  sent  them  forth  to 
conquer  half  the  world,  and  to  produce  a  sudden 
outburst  of  intellectual  activity  in  science,  art,  and 
literature.  This  shows  the  power  of  religion  to 
create  civilization. 

Another  illustration  of  this  power  of  religious 
ideas  to  produce  and  maintain  a  special  form  of  so- 
cial order  is  to  be  found  in  the  Jews.  They  have 
existed  now  for  pcrlwps  three  thousand  years,  as  a 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         371 

distinct  nationality,  formed  into  a  nation  by  the 
institutions  of  Moses,  and  held  together  by  those 
same  institutions. 

Another  illustration  is  to  be  seen  in  the  intluence 
of  Luther  in  originating  that  form  of  civilization 
which  exists  in  Northern  Europe  and  in  Protestant 
nations.  When  Luther  came,  the  southern  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  Italy,  Spain,  Austria,  Portugal, 
France,  were  superior  in  wealth  and  power  to  the 
northern  nations.  The  scale  has  turned  the  other 
way,  and  the  invention,  the  arts,  the  commerce, 
the  literature  of  Europe  preponderate  in  Germany 
and  England,  Norway,  and  Sweden.  Only  France, 
a  semi-Catholic  country,  stands  in  these  respects 
among  the  leading  powers.  Spain,  which,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  monopolized  the  largest  part  of 
the  force  and  wealth  of  Europe ;  Italy,  which,  in 
that  same  period,  was  supreme  in  art  and  litera- 
ture, have  both  sunk  to  a  second-rate  position  in 
the  scale  of  European  civilization. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  tendency  of  the  pres- 
ent time  is  to  disparage  and  discredit  prophets  and 
men  of  genius,  and  to  substitute  for  them  a  wor- 
ship for  humanity  in  general.  These  great  souls 
are  not  considered  providential  men,  sent  to  create 
a  new  epoch,  but  as  themselves  the  result  of  their 
time.  This  sort  of  explanation  may  be  carried  too 
far.  Concerning  this  let  us  listen  to  Carlyle,  who 
thus  speaks :  — 


372  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIOJfS. 

"  Tliis  is  an  age  which,  as  it  were,  denies  tlie  existence 
of  great  men  ;  denies  the  desirableness  of  great  men. 
Show  our  critics  a  great  man,  a  Luther  for  example,  they 
begin  to,  what  they  call,  'account  for  him  ' ;  not  to  wor- 
ship him,  but  take  the  dimensions  of  him  and  bring  him 
out  to  be  a  very  little  kind  of  man.  He  was  '  the  crea- 
ture of  the  time '  they  say ;  the  time  called  him  forth ; 
the  time  did  everything,  he  nothing  but  what  we,  the 
little  critic,  could  have  done  too  !  This  seems  to  me  but 
melancholy  work.  The  time  call  forth?  Alas  !  we  have 
known  times  call  loudly  enough  for  their  great  man, 
bat  not  find  him  when  they  called !  He  was  not  there. 
Providence  had  not  sent  him.  The  time,  calling  its 
loudest,  had  to  go  down  to  confusion  and  wreck  because 
he  would  not  come  when  called." 

"  I  liken  common,  languid  times,  with  their  unbelief, 
distress,  perplexity;  their  languid  doubting  character, 
impotently  crumbling  down  through  ever  worse  distress 
into  final  ruin,  —  all  this  I  liken  to  dry,  dead  fuel,  wait- 
ing for  the  lightning  out  of  heaven  which  shall  quicken 
it.  The  great  man,  with  his  free  force  direct  out  of  God's 
own  hand,  is  the  lightning.  All  blazes  now  around  him. 
The  critic  thinks  the  dry  mouldering  sticks  have  called 
him  forth.  They  wanted  him  greatly,  no  doubt ;  but  as 
to  calling  him  forth  !  They  are  critics  of  small  vision, 
who  think  that  the  dead  sticks  have  created  the  fire." 

"  To  lose  faith  in  God's  divine  lightning,  and  to  retain 
faith  only  in  dead  sticks,  this  seems  to  me  the  last  con- 
summation of  unbelief." 

So  far  Carlyle. 

My  opinion  is  this,  and  this  is  what  I  have  tried 
to  show  in  this  and  the  previous  chapters :  — 


THE    FUTURE    RELIGION    OF   MANKIND.         373 

1.  That  Christianity  alone  now  keeps  ahve  ii 
steadily  advancing  civilization. 

2.  It  does  this  because  of  the  breadth  and  uni- 
versality of  the  convictions  which  inspire  it, 

3.  It  derived  these  from  the  faith  and  inspira- 
tion of  its  founder. 

4.  Christianity  does  not  differ  from  other  relig- 
ions in  being  alone  true  while  they  are  false,  but 
in   possessing   the  whole  of   which    they  possess' 
parts. 

§11.  Will  the  ivorld  outgrow  the  teaching  of  Jesus.   Future 

prospects. 

There  remains  then  to  be  considered  only  the 
possibility  that  the  world  will  outgrow  the  teach- 
ing and  example  of  Jesus,  and  leave  him  behind. 
But  in  what  respect  will  the  world  outgrow  him  ? 
Not  in  his  teaching  concerning  God,  of  whom  he 
declares  that  he  is  a  Spirit,  and  that  those  who 
worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  Higher  than  this,  worship  cannot  go.  With 
this  Jesus  connected  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  and 
supreme  goodness  of  God.  "  Hear,  0  Israel !  the 
Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord."  "  There  is  none  good 
but  one,  that  is  God."  When  you  have  reached 
the  unity  of  all  things  in  one  supreme  being  of 
perfect  goodness,  it  would  seem  impossible  to  go 
higher.  In  the  same  way  Jesus  has  posited  the 
highest  possible  law  of  ethics  when  he  teaches  us 


374  TEN    GREAT    RELIGIONS . 

to  love  God  and  love  man.  These  ideas  may  be 
infinitely  developed  and  unfolded,  as  Christ  him- 
self foresaw  and  foretold.  He  avoided  limitino- 
truth  by  the  letter  of  his  own  statements,  but 
declared  that  the  Spirit  of  Truth  would  lead  his 
followers  into  all  truth. 

He  himself  thus  opened  the  way  for  indefinite 
progress  ;  but  these  foundation-truths,  when  once 
seen,  must  remain  as  foundations  always.  A  truth 
once  recognized    continues   always    true.      These 


are,  — 


"  Truths  which  wake 
To  perish  never." 

We  may  build  a  multitude  of  additions  on  such 
a  basis,  but  "  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  is  laid."  The  foundation  of  faith  once 
laid,  that  work  is  done. 

Christianity  in  the  past  has  gone  through  a  long 
cycle  of  change ;  it  has  altered  its  type  from  nge 
to  age  ;  taken  up  and  dropped  again  many  be- 
liefs and  many  practices.  It  will  probably  con- 
tinue to  do  so,  developing  more  and  more  into  the 
character  of  which  the  life  of  Jesus  is  the  type. 
As  it  does  this,  it  will  become  better  able  to  con- 
vert the  world  to  him.  It  will  not  offer  to  man- 
kind a  creed  and  a  ritual,  but  the  life  of  the  Master 
himself,  — 

"  Most  human  and  yet  most  divine, 
The  flower  of  man  and  God." 


THE    FUTUEE    RELIGION    OF    MAXKIXD.  375 

Christianity  was  never  so  vigorous  as  to-day.  It 
differs  from  otJier  religions  in  obeying  this  law  of 
development.  It  is  moving  onward.  Catholicism 
itself  develops  new  doctrines.  Even  that  cannot 
stand  still.  Protestantism  is  fermenting  with  the 
new  wine  of  a  growing  faith.  Germany  goes  ever 
deeper  into  the  study  of  religions  philosophy.  In 
England,  such  leaders  as  Gladstone,  Dean  Stanley, 
Jowett,  and  others  have  carried  aloft  the  banner 
of  advancing  thought.  Christianity  is  alive  in 
every  part  of  the  world. 

The  bitter  sectarian  animosities  which  have  dis- 
graced the  past  will  disappear.  All  churches  and 
confessions  will  hear  each  other  speaking  in  their 
own  tongue  wherein  they  were  born.  They  will 
no  more  undertake  to  teach  every  man  his  neigh- 
bor, and  every  man  his  brother,  saying :  "  Know 
the  Lord  in  my  way,  for  I  am  right,  I  have  the 
truth,  mine  is  the  only  safe  creed,  the  only  church 
w4iich  can  teach  with  authority  ;  "  for  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  not  left  itself  with- 
out a  witness  in  the  humblest  sect,  the  most  de- 
spised and  heretical  party,  and  that  all  know  him, 
from  the  least  of  them  to  the  greatest  of  them. 

This  is  the  way  by  which  Christ  will  put  all 
enemies  under  his  feet ;  this  is  the  way  in  which 
every  knee  shall  at  last  bow  to  him,  and  every 
tongue  confess  that  he  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father. 


376  tejst  great  religions. 

The  doubter  and  infidel  will  not  have  to  re- 
nounce any  of  their  freedom  of  mind.  No  one 
will  be  oblisred  to  submit  his  reason  to  unintellio:i- 
ble  mysteries,  or  to  accept  blindly  what  contradicts 
his  common  sense.  Science  shall  not  give  up  any 
part  of  its  domain  to  faith,  nor  the  reign  of  natural 
law  be  violated  by  a  single  rent  in  the  vast  web  of 
universal  order.  No  innocent  pleasiire,  no  natural 
joy  of  life,  nothing  beautiful  in  art,  literature,  so- 
ciety, home,  will  be  sacrificed  to  Christian  faith. 
But  all  men  will  come  to  Jesus,  because  they  find 
in  him  the  mightiest  influence  to  lift  up  their  aspi- 
rations to  his  Father  and  their  own ;  the  fullest 
revelation  of  pardon,  peace,  hope,  immortal  life, 
needed  by  us  all  for  the  perfect  development  of 
our  being ;  and  through  him  they  will  catch 
glimpses  in  their  most  barren  lives  of  "  that  im- 
mortal sea  which  brought  us  hither,"  ''  and  hear 
its  mighty  waters  rolling  evermore." 


APPENDIX. 


Note  I.     The  Nirvana. 

[From  Oldenberg,  "  Buddha,  his  Life,"  etc.] 

"  It  is  not  an  anticipation  in  parlance,  but  it  is  the  absolutely 
exact  expression  of  the  dogmatic  thought,  when  not  merely  the 
hereafter,  which  awaits  the  emancipated  saint,  but  the  perfec- 
tion which  he  already  attains  in  this  life,  is  called  the  Nirvana. 
What  is  to  be  extinguished  has  been  extincruished,  the  fire  of 
lust,  hatred,  bewilderment.  In  unsubstantial  distance  lie  hope 
and  fear  ;  the  will,  the  hugging  of  the  hallucination  of  egoity,  is 
subdued,  as  a  man  throws  aside  the  foolish  wishes  of  childhood. 
What  matters  it  whether  the  transitory  state  of  being,  the  root 
of  which  is  nipped,  lay  aside  its  indifferent  pl>euomeual  life  in- 
stantaneously or  in  after  ages  ? 

•'  Max  Miiller's  researches,  which  could  under  the  then  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  be  based  on  only  a  portion  of  the  au- 
thentic texts  bearing  on  this  branch  of  the  subject,  did  not  fail 
to  attract  the  attention  of  native  literati  in  Ceylon,  the  country 
which  has  preserved  to  the  present  day  Buddhist  temperament 
and  knowledge  in  its  purest  form.  And  by  the  joint  labors  of 
eminent  Singhalese  students  of  Buddhist  literature,  such  as  the 
late  James  d'Alwis,  and  European  inquirers,  among  whom  we 
may  mention  especially  Childers,  Rhys  Davids,  and  Trenckner, 
literary  materials  for  the  elucidation  of  the  dogma  of  Nirvana 
have  been  amply  unearthed  and  ably  treated.  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  complete  the  collections,  for  which  we  have  to  thank 
these  learned  scholars,  in  that  I  have  submitted  all  ihe  testi- 


378  APPENDIX. 

mony  of  the  sacred  Pali  canon,  that  contained  in  the  discourses 
of  Buddha  as  well  as  that  in  the  writings  upon  the  rights  of 
the  Order,  to  a  detailed  examination,  so  that  I  believe  I  am  in  a 
position  to  hope  that  uo  essential  expression  of  the  ancient  dog- 
matics and  doctrinal  poets  has  been  omitted.  Before  I  under- 
took this  task,  it  was  my  conviction  that  there  is  in  the  ancient 
Buddhist  literature  no  passage  which  directly  decides  the  alter- 
native whether  the  Nirvana  is  eternal  felicity  or  annihilation. 
So  much  the  greater,  therefore,  was  my  surprise,  when  in  the 
course  of  these  researches  I  lit  not  upon  one  passage,  but  upon 
very  numerous  passages,  which  speak  as  expressly  as  possible 
upon  the  point  regarding  which  the  controversy  is  waged,  and 
determine  it  with  a  clearness  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 
And  it  was  no  less  a  cause  of  astonishment  to  me  when  I  found 
that  in  that  alternative,  which  appeared  to  have  been  laid  down 
with  all  possible  cogency,  namely,  that  the  Nirvana  must  have 
been  understood  in  the  ancient  Order  to  be  either  the  Nothinsf 
or  a  supreme  felicity,  there  was  finally,  neither  on  the  one  side 
nor  on  the  other,  perfect  accuracy. 

"  King  Pasenadi  of  Kosala,  we  are  told,  on  one  occasion,  on  a 
journey  between  his  two  chief  towns,  Saketa  and  Savatthi,  fell 
in  with  the  nun  Kliema,  a  female  disciple  of  Buddha,  renowned 
for  her  wisdom.  The  king  paid  his  respects  to  her,  and  inquired 
of  her  concerning  the  sacred  doctrine. 

"  '  Venerable  lady,'  asked  the  king,  '  does  the  Perfect  One 
(Tathagata)  exist  after  death  ?  ' 

" '  The  Exalted  One,  O  great  king,  has  not  declared :  the 
Perfect  One  exists  after  death.' 

"  '  Then  does  the  Perfect  One  not  exist  after  death,  venerable 
lady  ? ' 

"  'This  also,  O  great  king,  the  Exalted  One  has  not  declared: 
the  Perfect  One  does  not  exist  after  death.' 

" '  Thus,  venerable  lady,  the  Perfect  One  does  exist  after 
death,  and  at  the  same  time  does  not  exist  after  death  ?  thus, 
venerable  lady,  the  Perfect  One  neither  exists  after  death,  nor 
does  he  not  exist  ?  ' 


APPENDIX.  379 

"  The  king  is  astonished.  '  AVhat  is  tlie  reason,  venerable 
lady,  what  is  the  ground,  on  which  the  Exalted  One  has  not  re- 
vealed this  ?  ' 

"  '  0  great  king,  if  the  existence  of  the  Perfect  One  be  meas- 
ured by  the  predicates  of  corporeal  form,  these  predicates  of 
the  corporeal  form  are  abolished  in  the  Perfect  One,  their  root 
is  severed,  they  are  hewn  away  like  a  palm  tree,  and  laid  aside, 
so  that  they  cannot  germinate  again  in  the  future.  Released,  O 
great  king,  is  the  Perfect  One  from  this,  that  his  being  should 
be  gauged  by  the  measure  of  the  corporeal  world ;  he  is  deep, 
immeasurable,  unfathomable  as  the  gijeat  ocean.  "  The  Per- 
fect One  exists  after  death,"  this  is  not  apposite  ;  "  the  Perfect 
One  does  not  exist  after  death,"  this  is  not  apposite  ;  "  the  Per- 
fect One  at  once  exists  and  does  not  exist  after  death,"  this  also 
is  not  apposite  ;  "  the  Perfect  One  neither  does  nor  does  not 
exist  after  death,"  this  also  is  not  apposite.' 

"  When  such  a  reason  is  assigned  for  the  waiving  of  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  the  Perfect  One  lives  forever,  is  not  this  very 
giving  of  a  reason  itself  an  answer  ?  And  is  not  this  answer  a 
Yes  ?  No  being  in  the  ordinary  sense,  but  still  assuredly  not  a 
non-being  ;  a  sublime  positive,  of  which  thought  has  no  idea,  for 
which  language  has  no  expression,  which  beams  out  to  meet  the 
cravings  of  the  thirsty  for  immortality  in  that  same  splendor  of 
which  the  apostle  says  :  '  Eye  has  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him.'  " 


Note  2.     Mohammedanism. 

[From  "  Islam  undtr  the  Arabs,"  by  R.  D.  Osbora,  1876.     See  also  "  Islam 
under  the  Khalifs  of  Baghdaad,"  by  the  same  autlior.] 

"Muhammad    was    neither    philosopher    nor    metaphysician. 
No  speculative  difficulties  troubled  him  as  to  the  sources  of  crea- 


380  APPENDIX. 

tive  power,  or  the  relations  between  man  and  God.  An  omnip- 
otent, self-conscious  Being  was  the  first  cause.  He  had  said, 
*  Be  ! '  and  the  universe  had  started  into  existence.  That  was 
the  whole  account  of  the  matter.  Muhammad  deemed  it  a 
monstrous  absurdity  to  suppose  that  the  attributes  of  man  gave 
him  any  peculiar  claims  on  the  consideration  of  God.  But  it 
was  worse  than  an  absurdity  ;  it  was  blasphemy  to  suppose  that 
man  could  claim  any  spiritual  kinship  with  his  Creator,  that  any 
particle  of  the  Divine  essence  had  been  breathed  into  him.  '  Al- 
most,' he  cries  in  horror,  '  might  the  very  heavens  be  rent  there- 
at, and  the  earth  cleave  asunder  and  the  mountains  fall  down  in 
fragments.  Verily,  there  is  none  in  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
but  shall  approach  the  God  of  Mercy  as  a  slave.'  God  sits  in 
awful  and  unapproachable  majesty.  He  has  fashioned  man  as 
an  artificer  fashions  an  image  out  of  clay.  There  is  no  living 
bond  between  them.  God  is  called  the  Merciful  and  Compas- 
sionate, not  because  love  is  of  the  essence  of  His  nature,  but 
because,  though  all  powerful.  He  forbears  to  use  His  might  for 
man's  destruction.  He  might  smite  man  with  plagues ;  He 
might  cause  him  to  perish  of  famine  or  the  lingering  agonies  of 
thirst ;  He  might  envelop  the  earth  in  perpetual  darkness ;  but 
out  of  His  mercy  and  compassion  He  does  none  of  these  things  ; 
He  gives  men  rain  and  fruitful  seasons,  and  genial  sunshine. 
But  He  is  not  less  the  inscrutable  despot,  acting  upon  no  prin- 
ciple but  the  caprices  of  His  will.  He  creates  the  soul,  and 
'breathes  into  it  its  wickedness  and  piety.'  He  'misleadeth 
whom  He  will,  and  guideth  whom  He  will.'  '  Whomsoever  God 
shall  please  to  direct.  He  will  open  his  breast  to  receive  the  faith 
of  Islam  ;  but  whomsoever  He  shall  please  to  lead  into  error,  He 
will  render  his  breast  straight  and  narrow  as  though  he  were 
climbing  up  into  Heaven.  Thus  doth  God  inflict  a  terrible  pun- 
ishment on  those  who  believe  not.' 

"  Hope  perishes  under  the  weight  of  this  iron  bondage. 
There  are  in  the  Koran  no  forward  glances  to  a  coming  golden 
age  when  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 


AprEXDix.  381 

Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea,  such  as  irradiate  the  hytniis 
and  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament.  There  is  no  communiou 
of  man's  spirit  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  none  of  that  lovin'>-  trust 
which  casteth  out  fear.  There  are  not  even  any  aspirations 
after  spiritual  perfection  as  bringing  a  man  nearer  to  God. 

"  Fatalism  is  thus  the  central  tenet  of  Islam.  It  sullices  to 
explain  the  degraded  condition  of  Muhammadan  countries.  So 
long  as  Muhammad  lived  and  God  did  stoop  to  hold  communi- 
cation with  men,  the  effects  flowing  from  it  were  in  a  measure 
obscured.  But  when  he  died,  the  Deity  seemed  to  withdraw 
altogether  from  the  world  He  had  created.  The  sufferings,  sor- 
rows, crimes,  hopes,  and  struggles  of  men  became  a  wild  and 
ghastly  orgy  without  meaning  or  ulterior  purpose.  Tlie  one 
rational  object  which  a  sober-minded,  practical  man  could  set  be- 
fore him  was,  in  this  life,  to  keep  aloof  from  all  this  senseless 
turmoil,  and,  by  a  diligent  performance  of  the  jjroper  rites  and 
ceremonies,  to  cheat  the  Devil  in  the  next.  And  so  it  has  beec 
always.  History  repeats  itself  in  Muhammadan  countries  with  a 
truly  doleful  exactness.  The  great  bulk  of  the  people  are  pas- 
sive ;  wars  and  revolutions  rage  around  tliem  ;  they  accept  them 
as  the  decrees  of  a  fate  it  is  useless  to  strive  against.  All  power 
passes  accordingly  into  the  hands  of  a  few  ambitious  and  turbu- 
lent spirits,  unencumbered  with  scruples  of  any  kind,  animatt-d 
by  no  desires  except  those  of  being  rich  and  strong.  There  is 
never  a  sufficient  space  of  rest  to  allow  institutions  to  grow  up. 

"  The  Koran  pulverizes  humanity  into  an  infinite  number  of 
separate  atoms.  The  one  common  duty  laid  upon  the  Faith- 
ful is  to  be  the  agents  of  God's  vengeance  on  those  who  believe 
not.  These  are  to  be  slaughtered  until  they  pay  tribute,  when 
they  are  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  Hell  in  their  own  way  witliout 
further  molestation. 

"The  mind  of  Muhammad  was  one  but  lightly  burdened  with 
the  sense  of  mystery.  It  was  thoroughly  materialistic  in  all  hs 
conceptions.  The  first  crude  conception  of  an  e-\|.lanatiou 
seemed  to  him  always  a  perfectly  satisfactory  one.     Ho  saw  uo 


382  APPENDIX. 

difficulties.  The  earth  was  flat  and  kept  steady  by  the  moun- 
taius  :  that  appeared  to  him  a  cosmogony  as  satisfactory  as  it 
was  simjile.  There  were  seven  heavens,  —  good,  solid,  substan- 
tial firmaments,  —  and  the  lowest,  a  magazine  of  fiery  darts  for 
hurling  at  the  djinns :  that  seemed  to  him  a  sound  and  reason- 
able explanation  of  the  blue  sky  and  the  stars," 


Note  3.      Chaldean  Account  of  the  Creation. 

[From  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ix.] 

"  The  discovery  of  these  tablets  has  greatly  raised  the  repu- 
tation of  the  ancient  author  Damascius,  for  it  is  now  seen  that 
his  account  of  the  Creation  was  derived  from  genuine  Babylo- 
nian sources.  He  says  (see  Cory's  '  Ancient  Fragments,'  page 
318,  compared  with  the  original),  '  The  Babylonians  speak  not 
of  One  origin  of  all  things,  for  they  make  two  original  beings, 
Tauthe  and  Apason,  making  Apason  the  husband  of  Tauthe, 
whom  they  call  the  mother  of  the  gods.  Their  only  son  (eldest 
son  ?)  was  Moymis.  And  another  race  proceeded  from  them, 
namely,  Dakhe  and  Dakhos.  And  again  a  third  race  proceeded 
from  the  same  (parents),  namely,  Kissare  and  Assoros.' " 

The  First  Tablet. 

1.  When  the  upper  region  was  not  yet  called  heaven, 

2.  and  the  lower  region  was  not  yet  called  earth, 

3.  and  the  abyss  of  Hades  had  not  yet  opened  its  «irms, 

4.  then  the* chaos  of  waters  gave  birth  to  all  of  them 

5.  and  the  waters  were  gathered  into  one  place. 

6.  No  men  yet  dwelt  together  :  no  animals  yet  wandered  about  : 

7.  none  of  the  gods  had  yet  been  born. 

8.  Their  names  were  not  spoken  :  their  attributes  were  not  known. 

9.  Then  the  eldest  of  tlie  gods 

10.  Lakhmu  and  Lakhamu  were  born 

11.  and  grew  up 


APPENDIX.  383 

1 2.  Assur  and  Kissur  were  born  next 

13.  and  lived  through  long  periods. 

14.  Anu 

[The  rest  of  this  tablet  is  lost.] 

The  Fifth  Tablet. 

[This  fifth  tablet  is  very  important,  because  it  affirms  clearly, 
in  my  opinion,  that  the  origin  of  the  Sabbath  was  coeval  with 
Creation.] 

1.  He  constructed  dwellings  for  the  great  gods. 

2.  He  fixed  up  constellations,  whose  figures  were  like  animals. 

3.  He  made  the  year.     Into  four  quarters  he  divided  il. 

4.  Twelve  months  he  established,  with  their  constellations  three 
by  three. 

5.  And  for  the  days  of  the  year  he  appointed  festivals. 

6.  He  made  dwellings  for  the  planets:  for  their  vising  and  setting. 

7.  And  that  nothing  should  sro  amiss,  and  that  the  course  of  none 
should  be  retarded, 

8.  he  placed  with  them  the  dwellings  of  Bel  and  Hea. 

9.  He  opened  great  gates,  on  every  side  : 

10.  he  made  strong  the  portals,  on  the  left  hand  and  on  the  right. 

11.  In  the  centre  he  placed  luminaries. 

12.  The  moon  he  appointed  to  rule  the  night 

13.  and  to  wander  through  the  night,  until  the  dawn  of  day. 

14.  Every  month  without  fail  he  made  holy  assembly  days. 

15.  In  the  beginning  of  the  month,  at  the  rising  of  the  night, 

16.  it  shot  forth  its  horns  to  illuminate  the  heavens. 

1 7.  On  the  seventh  day  he  appointed  a  holy  day, 

18.  and  to  cease  from  all  business  he  commanded. 

19.  Then  arose  the  sun  in  the  horizon  of  heaven  in  (glory). 

[It  has  been  known  for  some  time  that  the  Babylonians  ob- 
served the  Sabbath  with  considerable  strictness.  On  that  day 
the  king  was  not  allowed  tp  take  a  drive  in  his  chariot  ;  various 
meats  were  forbidden  to  be  eaten,  and  there  were  a  number  of 
minute  restrictions. 


384  APPENDIX. 

But  it  was  not  known  that  they  believed  the  Sabbath  to  have 
been  ordained  at  the  Creation.  I  have  found,  however,  since 
this  translation  of  the  fifth  tablet  was  completed,  that  Mr.  Sayce 
has  recently  published  a  similar  opinion.  See  the  Academy,  of 
November  27,  1875,  p.  554. 

This  account  falls  short  of  the  majesty  of  the  Hebrew  Gene- 
sis, especially  where  the  writer  implies  that  the  heavenly  move- 
ments might  possibly  go  wrong,  and  it  was  therefore  necessary 
that  the  gods  Bel  and  Hea  should  watch  over  them  and  guard 
against  misfortune.] 


Note  4.     Buddhism  in  Siam. 

[From  "  The  Wheel  of  the  Law.    Buddhism,  illustrated  from  Siamese 
Sources."     By  Henry  Alabaster.     Loudou.     187.1.] 

"  Of  the  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  millions  of  men,  the 
third  of  the  human  race  who,  according  to  a  common  estimate, 
profess  in  some  form  the  religion  of  Buddha,  the  four  million 
inhabitants  of  Siam  are  excelled  by  none  in  the  sincerity  of 
their  belief  and  the  liberality  with  which  they  support  their  re- 
ligion. No  other  Buddhist  country,  of  similar  extent,  can  show 
so  many  splendid  temples  and  monasteries.  In  Bangkok  alone 
there  are  more  than  a  hundred  monasteries,  and,  it  is  said,  ten 
thousand  monks  and  novices.  More  than  this,  every  male  Sia- 
mese, some  time  during  his  life,  and  generally  in  the  prime  of 
it,  takes  orders  as  a  monk,  and  retires  for  some  months  or  years 
to  practice  abstinence  and  meditation  in  a  monastery. 

"  All  Buddhists,  throughout  the  wide  range  of  countries  where 
the  doctrines  of  Buddha  prevail,  call  their  religion  the  doctrine 
of  '  The  Wheel  of  the  Law.'  I  have  adopted  the  name  for 
this  book,  because  it  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  a  theory  of 
Buddhism,  which  the  book  iu  some  degree  illustrates.     I  refer 


APPENDIX.  3S5 

to  the  theory  that  all  existence  of  which  we  have  any  concc))- 
tion  is  but  a  part  of  an  endless  chain  or  circle  of  causes  and 
effects  ;  that  so  long  as  we  remain  in  that  wheel  there  is  no  rest 
and  no  peace;  and  that  rest  can  only  be  obtained  by  escaping 
from  that  wheel  into  the  incomprehensible  Nirwana.  Buddha 
taught  a  religion  of  which  the  wheel  was  the  only  proper  sym- 
bol ;  for  his  theory,  professing  to  be  complete,  dealt  with  but  a 
limited  round  of  knowledge  ;  ignored  the  beginning,  and  was 
equally  vague  as  to  the  end.  He  neither  taught  of  a  God,  the 
Creator  of  existence,  nor  of  a  heaven,  the  absorber  of  existence, 
but  restrained  his  teaching  within  what  he  believed  to  be  the 
limits  of  reason. 

"  I  will  now  give  a  sketch  of  the  chief  points  of  Buddliist  be- 
lief and  practice  mentioned  in  the  '  Life.' 

"  The  first  essential  idea  is  that  of  transmijiration!  —  transmi- 
gration  not  only  into  other  human  states,  but  into  all  forms,  ac- 
tive and  passive. 

"  Gods  and  animals,  men  and  brutes,  have  no  intrinsic  difference 
between  them.  They  all  change  places  according  to  their  merits 
and  demerits.  They  exist  because  of  the  disturbance  caused 
by  their  demerits.  How  they  began  to  exist  is  not  even  asked ; 
it  is  a  question  pertaining  to  the  Infinite,  of  which  no  explana- 
tion is  attempted.  Even  in  dealing  with  the  illustrious  being 
who  afterwards  became  Buddha,  no  attempt  is  made  to  picture  a 
beginning  of  his  existence,  and  we  are  only  told  of  the  begin- 
ning of  his  aspiration  to  become  a  Buddlia,  and  the  countless 
existences  he  subsequently  passed  through  ere  be  achieved  hia 
object. 

"  Having  thus  declared  the  fact  of  transmigration,  and  tlie 
principle  which  causes  its  various  states,  Buddiiism  teaches  that 
there  is  no  real  or  permanent  satisfaction  in  any  state  of  trans- 
migration ;  that  neither  the  painless  luxuries  of  the  lower  heav- 
ens nor  the  tranquillity  of  the  highest  angels  can  be  considored 
as  happiness,  for  they  will  have  an  end,  followed  by  a  recurrence 
of  varied  and  frequently  sorrowful  existences.     Hero  is  one  of 

25 


386  APPENDIX. 

the  great  distinctions,   the  irreconcilable   differences,  between 
Buddhism  and  Christianity. 

"  Take  this  one  point  alone  :  Christians  profess  that  their  ex- 
istence is  the  effect  of  the  benign  providence  of  God,  and  that 
they  have  something  to  thank  God  for. 

"  But  Buddhists,  rich  or  poor,  acknowledge  no  providence,  and 
see  more  reason  to  lament  existence  than  to  be  grateful  for  it. 

"  Nirwana,  the  extinction  of  all  this  kind  of  existence,  must 
therefore  be  the  object  of  the  truly  wise  man.  What  this  ex- 
tinction is  may,  perhaps,  have  never  been  defined.  Certainly  it 
has  been  the  subject  of  endless  contention  by  those  who  think 
themselves  capable  of  dealing  with  the  infinite,  and  analyzing 
the  beginning  and  the  end.  All  I  can  see  of  it  in  this  '  Life  ' 
is  that  it  is  now  considered  to  be  peace,  rest,  and  eternal  hajipi- 
ness.  The  choicest  and  most  glorious  epithets  are  lavished  on  it 
by  the  Siamese,  but  we  are  left  as  ignorant  of  it  as  we  are  of  the 
heaven  of  Christians.  We  may  call  heaven  an  existence,  but 
we  are  even  less  capable  of  realizing  that  existence  than  we  are 
of  realizing  what  Barthelemy  St.  Hiliare  calls,  with  professed 
horror,  the  annihilation  or  non-existence  of  Nirwana. 

"  I  believe  that  most  men  recognize  sleep  as  a  real  pleasure. 
Certain  it  is  that  after  a  hard  day's  toil,  bodily  or  mental,  man 
longs  for  sleep ;  and  if  his  overtasked  body  or  too  excited  brain 
deprives  him  of  it,  he  feels  that  the  deprivation  is  pain.  Yet, 
what  is  sleep  ?  It  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  temporary  non- 
existence, and  during  its  existence  we  do  not  appreciate  its  tem- 
porariness.  The  existence  during  sleep,  when  sleep  is  perfect, 
appreciates  no  connection  with  the  waking  existence.  AVhen  it 
is  imperfect,  it  is  vexed  by  dreams  connected  with  waking  exis- 
tence, but  that  is  not  the  sleep  which  men  long  for. 

"The  ordinary  Siamese  never  troubles  himself  about  Nir- 
wana, he  does  not  even  mention  it.  He  believes  virtue  will  be 
rewarded  by  going  to  heaven  (Sawan),  and  he  talks  of  heaven, 
and  not  of  Nirwana.  Buddha,  he  will  tell  you,  has  entered 
Nirwana,  but,  for  his  part,  he  does  not  look  beyond  Sawan. 


APPENDIX.  387 

"  The  Buddhist  who  differs  from  us  in  recognizing  a  hiw  of 
nature,  without  seeking  for  a  Maker  of  that  law,  also  differs 
from  us  iu  assuming  a  continuation  of  existence,  without  defin- 
ing a  soul  as  that  which  is  continued.  For  all  practical  pur- 
poses we  may  speak  of  a  soul  as  that  which  passes  from  one 
state  of  existence  to  another,  but  such  is  not  the  Buddhist  idea, 
at  least,  not  the  idea  of  Buddhist  metaphysicians. 

"  In  my  explanation  of  Buddhist  ideas,  I  at  times  use  the  word 
soul,  because  it  facilitates  the  comprehension  of  the  idea  I  want 
to  convey,  and  because  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  other 
way  of  conveying  it.  The  Buddhist  tells  me  there  is  no  soul, 
but  that  there  is  continuation  of  individual  existence  without 
it.  I  cannot  explain  his  statement,  for  I  fail  thoroughly  to  un- 
derstand it,  or  to  appreciate  the  subtlety  of  his  theory. 

"  The  main  rules  of  a  virtuous  life,  that  is,  the  Ave  principal 
commandments,  are :  — 

1.  Not  to  destroy  life. 

2.  Not  to  obtain  another's  property  by  unjust  means. 

3.  Not  to  indulge  the  passions,  so  as  to  invade  the  legal  or 
natural  rights  of  other  men. 

4.  Not  to  tell  lies. 

5.  Not  to  partake  of  anything  intoxicating. 

"  Of  the  practice  of  charity,  it  is  not  requisite  to  say  much 
here.  The  whole  character  of  Buddha  is  full  of  charity,  inso- 
much that,  although  his  perfection  was  such  that  at  almost  an 
infinite  period  before  he  became  Buddha,  he  might,  during  the 
teaching  of  an  earlier  Buddha,  have  escaped  from  the  current 
of  existence,  which  he  regarded  as  miserv,  he  remained  in  that 
current,  and  passed  through  countless  painful  transmigrations, 
in  order  that  he  might  ultimately  benefit,  not  himself,  but  all 
other  beings,  by  becoming  a  Buddha,  and  helping  all  those 
whose  ripe  merits  could  only  be  perfected  by  the  tiaching  of  a 
Buddha. 

"  I  have  lived  long  among  Buddhists,  an<l  have  experienced 
much  kindness  among  them.  Above  all  things  I  have  found 
them  exceedingly  tolerant." 


388  APPENDIX. 

Note  5.     Buddhism  and  Christianity. 

[From  the"Hibbert  Lectures,"  pp.  233,  234,  236,  by  A.  Kueneu,  1SS2.] 

"  What  is  the  nature  of  the  proofs  alleged  by  those  who 
maintain  that  Buddhistic  influences  were  at  work  in  the  pro- 
duction of  Christianity  ?  Positive  evidence  that  Buddhistic 
ideas  had  penetrated  to  Western  Asia  is  not  forthcoming  till  a 
far  later  time.  The  Indian  Gymnosophists  whom  Pliilo  men- 
tions once  or  twice  are  not  Buddhists  at  all,  and,  moreover,  he 
only  knows  them  by  vague  report.  Clement  of  Alexandria  is 
the  first  who  mentions  the  Buddha,  and  he  speaks  of  him  as  the 
human  founder  of  a  religion,  whom  his  followers,  '  because  he 
was  so  surpassingly  venerable,'  reverenced  as  a  god.  What  he 
has  to  tell  us  leaves  the  impression  that  even  in  those  daj^s, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  of  our  era,  Buddhism 
was  still  a  remote  phenomenon."  "  But  the  total  absence  of 
historical  witnesses  should  make  us  very  cautious  in  assuming 
such  an  '  actio  in  distans,'  and  renders  it  at  least  our  imperative 
duty  to  submit  the  quality  of  the  proofs  which  are  usually 
urged  in  support  of  the  theory  of  Buddhistic  influences  to  a 
very  close  examination.  The  well-known  volume  on  '  The  An- 
gel Messiah  of  the  Buddhists,  Essenes,  and  Christians  '  no  doubt 
teems  with  parallels  of  every  description  ;  but  alas !  it  is  one 
unbroken  commentary  on  Scaliger's  thesis  that  errors  in  theol- 
ogy —  or,  as  he  really  puts  it,  '  disputes  in  religion '  —  all  rise 
from  neglect  of  philolojry.  A  writer  who  can  allow  himself  to 
brinjr  the  name  of  '  Pharisee '  into  connection  with  Persia  has 
once  for  all  forfeited  his  right  to  a  voice  in  the  matter.  But 
the  very  title  of  the  book  ought  really  to  have  preserved  us 
from  any  illusion  as  to  its  contents.  '  The  Angel-Messiah  '  of 
the  Buddhists,  who  know  nothing  either  of  angels  or  a  Messiah, 
and  of  the  Essenes,  who  were  certainly  much  occupied  with  the 
angels  and  their  names,  but  of  whose  Messianic  expectations  we 
know  nothing,  absolutely  nothing !     By  such  comparisons  be- 


APPENDIX.  389 

tween  unknown  or  imaginary  quantities,  instituted  without  any 
kind  of  accuracy,  we  could  prove  literally  anything.  Unques- 
tionably there  are  points  of  agreement  between  the  Gospel  narra- 
tives, especially  in  Luke  and  John,  and  the  legend  of  the  Buddha, 
and  also  between  the  preaching  of  Jesus  and  that  of  his  great 
predecessor.  To  make  a  complete  collection  of  these  parallels, 
and  to  illustrate  both  them  and  the  no  less  noteworthy  points 
of  difference,  I  hold  to  be  far  from  a  superfluous  task  ;  and  it  is 
satisfactory  to  know  that  it  has  actually  been  undertaken  by  a 
competent  hand,  with  results  that  have  quite  recently  been 
given  to  the  world.  ^  It  would  be  prematui-e  as  yet  to  pro- 
nounce a  final  judgment  on  the  outcome  of  the  running  compar- 
ison thus  instituted  ;  but  meanwhile  I  think  I  may  safely  allirm 
that  we  must  abstain  from  assigning  to  Buddhism  the  smallest 
direct  influence  on  the  origin  of  Christianity.  The  utmost  that 
can  be  maintained  is,  that  a  few  features  in  the  evangelical  tra- 
dition may  have  been  borrowed  from  it ;  and  even  this  must  re- 
main very  doubtful,  inasmuch  as  the  resemblances  upon  which 
the  hypothesis  is  built  present  themselves,  remarkably  enough, 
in  some  of  the  stories  which  are  dependent  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  in  which,  of  course,  the  coincidence  with  certain 
traits  in  the  life  of  Cakya-Muni  cannot  by  any  possibility  be 
more  than  accidental.  In  a  word,  however  attractive  the  hy- 
pothesis that  brings  Jesus  into  connection  with  the  Buddhists  may 
possibly  appear,  and  however  readily  it  may  lend  itself  to  ro- 
mantic treatment,  yet  sober  and  strict  historical  research  gives 
it  no  support,  and  indeed  condemns  it." 

1  Professor  Seydel. 


390  APPENDIX. 


Note  6.    On  the  Connection  between  the  Buddhist  Books  and  the 

Hew  Testament. 

[By  T.  W.  Ehys  Davids,  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  vol.  ii.,  1881.] 

"  Very  little  reliance  can  be  placed,  without  careful  investiga- 
tion, on  a  resemblance,  however  close  at  first  sight,  between  a 
passage  in  the  Pali  Pitakas  and  a  passage  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

"  It  is  true  that  many  passages  in  these  two  literatures  can  be 
easily  shown  to  have  a  similar  tendency.  But  when  some  wri- 
ters on  the  basis  of  such  similarities  proceed  to  argue  that  there 
must  have  been  some  historical  connection  between  the  two,  and 
that  the  New  Testament,  as  the  later,  must  be  the  borrower,  I 
venture  to  think  they  are  wrong.  There  does  not  seem  to  me 
to  be  the  slightest  evidence  of  any  historical  connection  between 
them  ;  and  whenever  the  resemblance  is  a  real  one  —  and  it 
often  turns  out  to  be  really  least  when  it  first  seems  to  be  great- 
est, and  really  greatest  when  it  first  seems  least  —  it  is  due,  not 
to  any  borrowing  on  the  one  side  or  on  the  other,  but  solely  to 
the  similarity  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  two  movements 
grew. 

"  This  does  not  of  course  apply  to  the  later  literature  of  the 
two  religions,  and  it  ought  not  to  detract  from  the  very  great 
value  and  interest  of  the  parallels  which  may  be  adduced  from 
the  earlier  books.  If  we  wish  to  understand  what  it  was  that 
gave  such  life  and  force  to  the  stupendous  movement  which  is 
called  Buddhism,  we  cannot  refrain  from  comparing  it,  not  only 
in  the  points  in  which  it  agrees  with  it,  but  also  in  the  points  in 
which  it  differs  from  it,  with  our  own  faith.  I  trust  I  have  not 
been  wrong  in  making  use  occasionally  of  this  method,  though 
the  absence  of  any  historical  connection  between  the  New  Tes- 
tament and  the  Pali  Pitakas  has  always  seemed  to  me  so  clear 
that  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  mention  it.     But  when  a  re- 


APPENDIX.  391 

viewer  who  has  been  kind  enough  to  appreciate,  I  ara  afraid  too 
highly,  what  he  calls  my  'service  in  giving,  for  the  first  time, 
a  thoroughly  human,  acceptable,  and  coherent'  account  of  the 
'life  of  Buddha  '  and  of  the  'simple  groundwork  of  his  religion  ' 
has  gone  on  to  conclude  that  the  parallels  I  had  thus  adduced 
are  '  an  unanswerable  indication  of  the  obligations  of  the  New 
Testament  to  Buddhism,'  I  must  ask  to  be  allowed  to  enter  a 
protest  against  an  inference  which  seems  to  me  to  be  against  tlio 
rules  of  sound  historical  criticism." 


Note  7.     The  Lamentations  of  Isis  and  Nephthys. 

[From  "  Records  of  the  Past,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  117.] 

[This  papyrus  was  found  by  the  late  Mr.  Passalaqua  in  the 
ruins  of  Thebes,  in  the  interior  of  a  statue  representing  Osiris. 
It  is  divided  into  two  parts,  very  distinct.  The  first  contains 
chapters  of  the  funeral  ritual  in  the  hieroglyphic  writing;  the 
second,  of  which  a  translation  here  follows,  consists  of  five  pages 
of  a  fine  hieratic  writing  of  the  lower  epoch,  probably  about  tho 
time  of  the  Ptolemies.] 

TRANSLATION. 

Eecital  of  the  beneficial  formulae  made  by  the  two  divine  sis- 
ters in  the  house  of  Osiris,  who  resides  in  the  West,  Great  God, 
Lord  of  Abydos,  in  the  month  of  Choiak,  the  twenty-fifth  day. 
They  are  made  the  same  in  all  the  abodes  of  Osiris,  and  in  all 
his  festivals ;  and  they  are  beneficial  to  his  soul,  giving  firmness 
to  his  body,  diffusing  joy  through  his  being,  giving  breath  to  tho 
nostrils,  to  the  dryness  of  the  throat;  they  satisfy  the  heart  of 
Isis  as  well  as  [that]  of  Nephthys;  they  place  Ilorus  on  tlio 
throne  of  his  father,  [and]  give  life,  stability,  trancjuility  to 
Osiris-Tentrut  born  of  Takha-aa,  who  is  suruanied  Persais,  tho 
justified.  It  is  profitable  to  recite  them,  in  conformity  with  tho 
divine  words. 


392  APPENDIX. 

EVOCATION   BY   ISIS. 

She  says  :  — 

Come  to  thine  abode,  come  to  thine  abode! 
God  An,  come  to  thine  abode ! 
Thine  enemies  [exist]  no  more. 

0  excellent  Sovereign,  come  to  thine  abode! 
Look  at  me ;  I  am  thy  sister  who  loveth  thee. 
Do  not  stay  far  from  me,  O  beautiful  youth. 
Come  to  thine  abode  with  haste,  with  haste. 

1  call  thee  in  [my]  lamentations 
[even]  to  the  heights  of  Heaven, 
and  thou  hearest  not  my  voice. 

I  am  thy  sister  who  loveth  thee  on  earth  ; 
no  one  else  hath  loved  thee  more  than  I, 
[thy]   sister,  [thy]  sister. 

EVOCATION   BY   NEPHTHYS. 

She  says :  — 

0  excellent  Sovereign,  come  to  thine  abode  1 
Rejoice,  all  thine  enemies  are  annihilated! 
Thy  two  sisters  are  near  to  thee, 
protecting  thy  funeral  bed ; 

calling  thee  in  weeping, 

thou  who  art  prostrate  on  thy  funeral  bed. 

Thou  seest  [our]  tender  solicitude. 

Speak  to  us.  Supreme  Ruler,  our  Lord. 

Chase  all  the  anguish  which  is  in  our  hearts. 

Thy  companions,  who  are  gods  and  men, 

when  they  see  thee  [exclaim]  : 

Ours  by  thy  visage,  supreme  Ruler,  our  Lord  ; 

life  for  us  is  to  behold  thy  countenance  ; 

let  not  thy  face  be  turned  from  us  ; 

the  joy  of  our  hearts  is  to  contemplate  thee  ; 

[O]  Sovereign,  our  hearts  are  happy  in  seeing  thee. 

1  am  Nephthys,  thy  sister  who  loveth  thee. 
Thine  enemy  is  vanquished, 

he  no  longer  existeth! 

1  am  with  thee, 

protecting  thy  members  forever  and  eternally. 


APPENDIX.  393 

INVOCATION    BY   ISIS. 

She  says  :  — 

Hail[0]  God  An! 

Thou,  in  the  firmament,  shinest  upon  us  each  day. 

We  no  longer  cease  to  behold  thy  rays. 

Tlioth  is  a  protection  for  thee. 

He  placeth  thy  soul  in  the  barque  Ma-at, 

in  that  name  which  is  thine,  of  God  Moon. 

I  have  come  to  contemplate  thee. 

Thy  beauties  are  in  the  midst  of  the  Sacred  Eye, 

in  that  name  which  is  thine,  of  Lord  of  the  sixth  day's  festival. 

Thy  companions  are  near  to  thee  ; 

they  separate  themselves  no  more  from  thee. 

Thou  hast  taken  possession  of  the  Heavens, 

by  the  grandeur  of  the  terrors  which  thou  inspirest, 

in  that  name  which  is  thine,  of  Lord  of  the  fifteenth  day's  festival. 

Thou  dost  illuminate  us  like  Ra  each  day. 

Thou  shinest  upon  us  like  Atum. 

Gods  and  men  live  because  they  behold  thee. 

Thou  sheddest  thy  rays  upon  us. 

Thou  givest  light  to  the  Two  Worlds. 

The  horizon  is  filled  by  thy  passage. 

Gods  and  men  [turn]  their  faces  towards  thee  ; 

nothing  is  injurious  to  them  when  thou  shinest. 

Thou  dost  navigate  in  the  heights  [of  Heaven] 

and  thine  enemy  no  longer  exists! 

I  am  thy  protection  each  day. 

Thou  who  comest  to  us  as  a  child  each  month, 

we  do  not  cease  to  contemplate  thee. 

Thine  emanation  heightens  the  brilliancy 

of  the  stars  of  Orion  in  the  firmament, 

by  rising  and  setting  each  day. 

I  am  the  divine  Sothis  behind  him. 

I  do  not  separate  myself  from  him. 

The  glorious  emanation  which  proccedeth  from  thee  glveth 

life  to  gods  and  men. 

Hail  to  the  divine  Lord ! 

There  is  no  Kod  like  unto  thee  I 


394  APPENDIX. 

Heaven  hath  thy  soul ; 

earth  hath  thy  remains  ; 

the  lower  heaven  is  in  possession  of  thy  mysteries. 

Thy  spouse  is  a  protection  for  thee. 

Thy  son  Horus  is  the  king  of  the  worlds. 

INVOCATION    BY    ISIS. 

She  says :  — 

Come  to  thine  abode,  come  to  thine  abode! 

Excellent  Sovereign,  come  to  thine  abode! 

Come  [and]  behold  thy  son  Horus 

as  supreme  Ruler  of  gods  and  men. 

He  hath  taken  possession  of  the  cities  and  the  districts, 

by  the  grandeur  of  the  respect  he  inspires. 

Heaven  and  earth  are  in  awe  of  him, 

the  barbarians  are  in  fear  of  him. 

When  this  is  recited, 
the  place  [where  one  is] 
is  holy  in  the  extreme. 
Let  it  be  seen  or  heard  by  no  one, 
excepting  by  the  principal  Kher-heb  and  the  Sam. 
Two  women  beautiful  in  their  members, 
having  been  introduced, 
are  made  to  sit  down  on  the  ground 
at  the  principal  door  of  the  Great  Hall. 
[Then]  the  names  of  Isis  and  Nephthys 
are  inscribed  on  their  shoulders. 
Crystal  vases  [full]  of  water 
are  placed  in  their  right  hands  ; 
loaves  of  bread  made  in  Memphis 
in  their  left  hands. 

Let  them  pay  attention  to  the  things  done 
at  the  third  hour  of  the  day, 
and  also  at  the  eighth  hour  of  the  day. 
Cease  not  to  recite  this  book 
at  the  hour  of  the  ceremony! 
It  is  finished. 


APPENDIX.  395 

Note  8.     Religion  of  Zoroaster. 

[From  the  "  Vendidad,  Fargard  III."] 

1.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world,  Pure  One! 

2.  What  is  in  the  first  place  most  acceptable  to  this  earth? 

3.  Then  answered  Ahura- Mazda  :  Where  a  holy  man  walks  about, 

O  holy  Zarathustra, 

4.  Offering-wood  in  the  hand,  Bere9ma  in  the  hand,  the  cup  in  the 

hand,  the  mortar  in  the  hand, 

5.  In  accordance  with  the  law  speaking  these  words  :  Miihra  with 

his  broad  territories  will  I  invoke,  and  Rama-sacjtra. 

6.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world.  Pure  One ! 

7.  What  is  in  the  second  place  most  acceptable  to  this  earth  ? 

8.  Then   answered  Ahura-AIazda  :    That  a  holy  man  should  build 

himself  there  a  habitation, 

9.  Provided  with  fire,  provided  with  cattle,  provided  with  a  wife, 

children,  and  good  flocks. 

10.  Then  is  there  in  this  habitation  abundance  of  cattle,  abundance 

of  righteousness,  abundance  of  provender,  of  dogs,  of  women, 
of  youths,  of  fire,  of  all  that  is  requisite  for  a  good  life. 

11.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world.  Pure  One! 

12.  What  is  in  the  third  place  most  acceptable  to  this  earth? 

13.  Then  answered  Ahura-Mazda  :  Where  by   cultivation  there  is 

produced,  O  holy  Zarathustra,  most  corn,  provender,  and  fruit- 
bearing  trees. 

14.  Where  dry  land  is  watered,  or  the  water  is  drained  from  the  too 

moist  land. 

15.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world,  Pure  One  ! 

16.  What  is  in  the  fourth  place  most  accej)table  to  this  earth? 

17.  Then  answered   Ahura-Mazda:  AVhere  most  cattle  anil   leasts 

of  burden  are  born. 

26.  What  is  in  the  second  place  most  displeasing  to  this  earth  ? 

27.  Then  answered  Ahura-Mazda  :  Where  most  tlead  dogs  and  dead 

men  are  buried  in  it. 

38.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world,  Pure  One  ! 

39.  Who  first  rejoices  this  earth  with  the  greatest  joy? 


396  APPENDIX. 

40.  Then  answered  Ahura-Mazda  :  He  who  especially  digs  up  where 
dead  men  and  dogs  are  buried. 

75.  Creator  of  the  corporeal  world,  Pure  One  ! 

76.  Who  rejoices  this  earth  with  the  greatest  joy? 

77.  Then  answered  Ahura-Mazda  :  He  who  most  cultivates  the  fruits 

of  the  field,  grass,  and  trees  which  yield  food,  O  holy  Zara- 
thustra. 

78.  Or,  he  who  provides  waterless  land  with  water,  or  gives  water 

to  the  waterless  land. 

79.  For  the  earth  is  not  glad  which  lies  long  uncultivated. 

91.  He  who  does  not  cultivate  this  earth,  O  holy  Zarathustra,  with 

the  left  arm  and  the  right,  with  the  right  arm  and  left, 

92.  Then  this  earth  speaks  to  him  :  Man!  thou  who  dost  not  cultivate 

me  with  the  left  arm  and  right,  with  the  right  arm  and  left, 

93.  Always  thou  standest  there,  going  to  the  doors  of  others  to  beg 

for  food. 

94.  Always  they  bring  food  to  you,  thou  who  beggest  lazily  out  of 

doors. 


Note  9.   Transmigration  and  Final  Beatitude. 
[From  the  "  Laws  of  Manu,"  chapter  xii.] 

1.  O  Thon,  who  art  free  from  sin,  (said  the  devout  sages,)  thou  hast 

declared  the  whole  system  of  duties  ordained  for  the  four 
classes  of  men  :  explain  to  us  now,  from  the  first  principles, 
the  ultimate  retribution  for  their  deeds. 

2.  Bhrigu,  whose  heart  was  the  pure  essence  of  virtue,  who  pro- 

ceeded from  Manu  himself,  thus  addressed  the  great  sages  : 
Hear  the  infallible  rules  for  the  fruit  of  deeds  in  this  universe. 

3.  Action,  either  mental,  verbal,  or  corporeal,  bears  good  or  evil  fruit, 

as  itself  is  good  or  evil  ;  and  from  the  actions  of  men  proceed 
their  various  transmigrations  in  the  highest,  the  mean,  and  the 
lowest  degree  : 

4.  Of  that  three-fold  action,  connected  with  bodily  functions,  dis- 

posed in  three  classes,  and  consisting  of  ten  orders,  be  it  known 
in  this  world,  that  the  heart  is  the  instigator. 


APPENDIX.  307 

5.  Devising  means  to  appropriate  the  wealth  of  other  men,  resolvins 

on  any  forbidden  deed,  and  conceiving  notions  of  atheism  or 
materialism,  are  the  three  bad  acts  of  the  mind  : 

6.  Scurrilous  language,  falsehood,  indiscriminate   backbit  in«T.  and 

useless  tattle  are  the  four  bad  acts  of  the  ton-nie  • 

8.  A  rational  creature  has  a  reward  or  a  punishment  for  mental  acts, 

in  his  mind;  for  verbal  acts,  in  his  organs  of  speech  ;  for  cor- 
poreal acts,  in  his  bodily  frame. 

9.  For  sinful  acts  mostly  corporeal,  a  man  shall  assume  after  doatli 

a  vegetable  or  mineral  form  ;  for  such  acts  mostly  verbal,  the 
form  of  a  bird  or  a  beast ;  for  acts  mostly  mental,  the  lowest 
of  human  conditions: 

10.  He,  whose  firm  understanding  obtains  a  command  over  his  words, 

a  command  over  his  thoughts,  and  a  conmiand  over  his  wliule 
body,  may  justly  be  called  a  tridandi,  or  triple  commander  ; 
not  a  mere  anchoret,  who  bears  three  visible  staves. 

11.  The  man  who  exerts  this  triple  self-command  with  respect  to 

all  animated  creatures,  wholly  subduing  both  lust  and  wrath, 
shall  by  those  means  attain  beatitude. 
24.  Be  it  known,  that  the  three  qualities  of  the  rational  soul  are  a 
tendency  to  goodness,  to  passion,  and  to  darkness  ;  and  en- 
dued with  one  or  more  of  them,  it  remains  incessantly  at- 
tached to  all  these  created  substances  : 

26.  Goodness  is  declared  to  be  true  knowledge  ;  darkness,  gross  ig- 

norance ;  passion,  an  emotion  of  desire  or  aversion  :  such  is 
the  compendious  description  of  those  qualities  which  attend 
all  souls. 

27.  When   a  man  perceives,  in  the  reasonable  soul,  a  <lisposition 

tending  to  virtuous  love,  unclouded  with  any  malignant  pas- 
sion, clear  as  the  purest  light,  let  him  recognize  it  as  the  qual- 
ity of  goodness. 

30.  Now  will  I  declare  at  large  the  various  acts,  in  the  highest,  iiiil- 

dle,  and  lowest  degrees,  which  proceed  from  those  three  tiis- 
positions  of  mind. 

31.  Study  of  scripture,  austere  devotion,  sacred  knowledge,  corj)©- 

real  purity,  command  over  the  organs,  performance  of  duties, 
and  meditation  on  the  divine  spirit,  accompany  the  good  qual- 
ity of  the  soul  : 


o 


98  APPENDIX. 


32.  Interested  motives  for  acts  of  religion  or  morality,  perturbation 
of  mind  on  slight  occasions,  commission  of  acts  forbidden  by 
law,  and  habitual  indulgence  in  selfish  gratifications,  are  at- 
tendant on  the  quality  of  passion. 


Note  10.     Japan  and  the  Japanese. 
[From  Baron  Hiibner's  "Ramble  Round  the  World  in  1871,"  page  420.] 

"  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  the  people  were  happy 
and  contented.  .  .  .  Public  order  was  rarely  troubled  in  Japan. 
Life  and  property  were  better  protected  than  in  any  other 
pagan  nation.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil,  the  development 
of  certain  branches  of  industry,  the  taste  for  a  practice  of  the 
fine  arts,  bespoke  a  long-established  civilization.  Doubtless 
this  civilization  is  imperfect,  for  Christianity  has  never  shed  its 
light  freely  over  the  land.  Certain  barbarous  customs  tarnish 
the  spirit  of  chivalry  and  the  feeling  of  honor  which  distin- 
guish this  people.  Gross  superstitions  darken  and  hinder  the  as- 
pirations of  their  souls,  which  are  dissatisfied  with  the  Buddhist 
doctrines.  Although  Buddhism  is  the  religion  of  the  major- 
ity, the  spirit  of  scepticism  has  invaded  and  enervated  the  whole 
of  the  upper  classes.  The  family  forms  the  basis  of  the  politi- 
cal institutions  of  the  state ;  but  woman,  though  more  free  and 
respected  than  in  any  other  pagan  society,  still  waits  her  en- 
franchisement. Hence  arises  a  deplorable  laxity  of  morals. 
Respect  for  parental  authority,  fidelity  to  the  head  of  the  clan, 
bravery,  and  voluntary  death,  when  exacted  bj^  honor,  were  and 
are  the  chief  virtues  of  this  gay,  polite,  careless,  chivalrous,  and 
amiable  people. 

Every  one  in  these  days  knows  that  the  Japanese  people 
are  gentle,  amiable,  civil,  gay,  good-natured,  and  childish  ;  that 
the  men  of  the  lower  classes  have  skins  bronzed  by  the  sun,  and 
often  tattooed  red  and  blue  like  the  designs  on  the  lacquer-work 
of  their  country  ;  that  men  of  all  classes  have  their  heads  shaved, 


1 


ArPEXDix.  300 

saving  a  little  tail  which  is  agreeably  balanced  above  tl;e  occi- 
put ;  that  in  summer  they  leave  oflE  their  narrow  trousers,  and 
content  themselves  with  a  simple  tunic  of  silk  or  cotton,  accord- 
ing to  the  rank  of  the  individual,  and  when  they  are  at  home, 
with  the  fundashi.  From  the  Mikado  down  to  the  lowest  coolie, 
this  waistband  or  sash  forms  the  principal  part  of  the  toilt-t  of 
every  respectable  Japanese.  Every  one  except  the  merchants, 
who  are  the  lowest  in  the  social  scale,  belongs  to  some  one,  not 
as  a  serf  or  slave,  but  as  a  member  of  a  clan,  wliich,  divided 
into  a  great  many  different  castes,  forms  only  one  great  family,  of 
which  the  prince  or  daimio  is  the  chief.  He  has  his  counsellors, 
his  vassals,  his  samurais,  or  knights  with  two  swords  (the  oth- 
ers having  only  one),  his  men  of  war,  and  servants  of  all  grades. 
Each  one  wears  on  his  back,  and  on  the  sleeves  of  his  tunic,  the 
coat  of  arms  of  the  prince  or  the  corporation  whom  he  serves, 
a  flower  or  certain  letters  inscribed  in  a  circle.  The  sabres  of 
the  gentlemen,  their  inkstands,  their  pipes,  their  purses  fastened 
to  their  waistbands,  —  all  this  is  well  known.  As  to  the  women, 
all  authors  speak  of  them  with  delight.  They  are  not  exactly 
beautiful,  for  they  are  wanting  in  regularity  of  feature.  Their 
cheek-bones  are  too  prominent.  Their  beautiful,  large,  brown 
eyes  are  too  decidedly  of  an  almond  shape,  and  their  thick  lips 
are  wanting  in  delicacy ;  but  that  does  not  spoil  tliera.  But 
what  no  pen  or  pencil  can  ever  truly  render  is  the  sight  of  the 
streets,  with  their  busy,  picturesque  crowd  of  men  and  women, 
smiling  courteously  at  one  another  and  bowing  profoundly  to 
each  other  ;  or,  if  it  be  a  question  of  some  great  personage, 
prostrating  themselves  on  the  ground ;  but  with  an  agility  and 
a  dignity  which  takes  off  what  might  appear  humiliating  in  the 
action,  and  only  gives  it  the  appearance  of  an  excess  of  polite- 
ness and  deference.  The  Japanese  people  are  happy  and  con- 
tented with  the  conditions  in  which  they  are  placed,  or  rathrr, 
in  which  they  have  been  placed  until  now.  Misery  is  unknown 
amongst  them,  but  so,  also,  is  luxury.  The  simplicity  of  their 
habits,  an  extreme  frugality,  and  the  absence  of  those  wauta 


400  APPENDIX. 

which  Europe  could  and  would  satisfy,  are,  it  appears  to  me,  so 
many  obstacles  to  a  vast  exchange  of  European  products  with 
those  of  Japan.  "  The  Japanese  have  adopted  the  civilization, 
religion,  and  even  the  handwriting  of  the  Chinese ; "  this  was 
told  me  by  a  man  who  has  long  been  resident  here.  Now  they 
are  trying  to  imitate  Europeans.  They  cannot  help  copying 
others ;  it  is  their  nature.  Only  compare  a  Japanese  and  Chi- 
nese servant.  The  former  will  watch  the  minutest  habit  of  his 
master,  and  conform  himself  to  it  with  the  most  wonderful  facil- 
ity ;  only  he  must  not  act  by  his  own  inspiration,  for  he  has  no 
bead.  The  Chinese  remain  always  Chinese.  They  observe  and 
copy  less,  but  they  do  better  when  they  are  left  to  follow  their 
own  imaginations. 

The  Japanese,  provided  you  keep  them  in  their  place  and 
make  them  observe  the  etiquette  of  their  own  country,  are  gen- 
tle, merry,  and  very  affectionate  towards  their  master.  If  he 
beats  them,  they  are  not  the  less  attached ;  besides  the  bamboo 
brings  with  it  no  dishonor.  They  are  only  children  whom  a 
father  has  chastised.  But  if  you  treat  them  as  you  would  a 
European  servant,  they  become  familiar,  rude,  and  positively  in- 
supportable. The  Chinaman,  on  the  other  hand,  can  never  be 
made  to  love  the  master  he  serves.  He  is  proud,  vindictive,  and 
very  susceptible,  but  always  of  an  exquisite  politeness.  At 
the  slightest  observation  you  make  to  him,  he  leaves  your  ser- 
vice, either  under  the  pretext  of  the  illness  of  his  mother,  or 
telling  you,  very  respectfully,  and  with  the  peculiar  smile  of  his 
race  when  announcing  disagreeable  intelligence,  that  there  is  be- 
tween you  and  him  an  incompatibility  of  character.  Having 
said  this,  notliing  stops  him,  and  he  leaves  you.  The  Japanese 
are  wonderful  lovers  of  nature.  In  Europe  a  feeling  for  beauty 
has  to  be  developed  by  education.  Our  peasants  will  talk  to 
you  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  of  the  abundance  of  water,  so 
useful  for  their  mills,  of  the  value  of  their  woods,  but  not  of 
the  picturesque  charms  of  the  country.  They  are  not  perhaps 
entirely  insensible  to  them  ;  but  if  they  do  feel  them,  it  is  in  a 


APPENDIX.  401 

vague,  undefined  sort  of  way,  for  which  they  would  be  puzzled 
to  account.  It  is  not  so  with  the  Japanese  laborer.  With  him 
the  sense  of  beauty  is  innate.  This  extraordinary  love  and  feel- 
ing for  nature  is  reflected  in  all  Japanese  productions.  A  taste 
for  the  fine  arts  is  common  among  the  very  lowest  classes,  and 
to  a  degree  which  is  not  found  in  any  counti-y  in  Europe.  In 
the  humblest  cottage,  you  will  find  traces  of  this  —  an  artificial 
flower,  an  ingenious  child's  toy,  an  incense-burner,  an  idol,  heaps 
of  little  ornamental  things,  the  only  use  of  which  is  to  give 
pleasure  to  the  eye.  With  us,  except  in  the  service  of  religion, 
this  kind  of  art  is  the  privilege  of  the  rich  and  of  people  in  easy 
circumstances. 


Note  11.     The  Ethics  of  Buddhism. 
[From  "  A  Manual  of  Buddhism."    By  Spence  Hardy.j 

There  are  three  sins  of  the  body  :  1.  The  taking  of  life.  Mur- 
der. 2.  The  taking  of  that  which  is  not  given,  Theft.  3.  Im- 
purity. 

There  are  four  sins  of  the  speech :    1.  Lying.     2.  Slander. 

3.  Abuse.     4.  Unprofitable  Conversation. 

There  are  three  sins  of  the  mind :  1.  Covetousness.  2.  Mal- 
ice.    3.  Scepticism. 

There  are  also  five  other  evils  that  are  to  be  avoided  :  1.  The 
Drinking  of  Intoxicating  Liquors.     2.   Gambling.     3.  Idleness. 

4.  Improper  Associations.  5.  The  Frequenting  of  Places  of 
Amusement. 

There  are  five  things  necessary  to  constitute  the  crime  of  tak- 
ing life  :    1.  There  must  be  the  knowledge  that  there  is  life. 

2.  There  must  be  the  assurance  that  a  living  being  is  present. 

3.  There  must  be  the  intention  to  take  life.  4.  With  this  in- 
tention there  must  be  something  done,  as  the  placing  of  a  bow 
or  spear,  or  the  setting  of  a  snare  ;  and  there  must  be  some 
movement  towards  it,  as  walking,  running,  or  jumping.  5.  The 
life  must  be  actually  taken. 

26 


402  APPENDIX. 

There  are  eight  causes  of  the  destruction  of  life :  1.  Evil 
Desire.  2.  Anger.  3.  Ignorance.  4.  Pride.  5.  Covetous- 
ness.  6.  Poverty.  7.  "Wantonness,  as  in  the  sport  of  children. 
8.  Law,  as  by  the  decree  of  the  ruler. 

This  crime  is  committed,  not  only  when  life  is  actually  taken, 
but  also  when  there  is  the  indulgence  of  hatred  or  auger  ;  hence 
also  lying,  stealing,  and  slander  may  be  regarded  in  some  sense 
as  including  this  sin. 

Under  certain  circumstances  one's  own  life  may  be  given  up, 
but  the  life  of  another  is  never  to  be  taken. 

The  crime  is  not  great  when  an  aut  is  killed ;  its  magnitude 
increases  in  this  progression  :  a  lizard,  a  guana,  a  hare,  a  deer, 
a  bull,  a  horse,  and  an  elephant.  The  life  of  each  of  these  ani- 
mals is  the  same,  but  the  skill  or  eflfort  required  to  destroy  them 
is  widely  different.  Again,  when  we  come  to  men,  the  two  ex- 
tremes are  the  sceptic  and  the  rakat  (as  no  one  can  take  the 
life  of  a  supreme  Buddha). 

In  a  village  near  Danta,  there  was  a  husbandman.  One  of 
his  oxen  having  strayed,  he  ascended  a  rock  that  he  might  look 
for  it ;  but  while  there  he  was  seized  by  a  serpent.  He  had  a 
goad  in  his  hand,  and  his  first  impulse  was  to  kill  the  snake  ; 
but  he  reflected  that  if  he  did  so  he  should  break  the  precept 
that  forbids  the  taking  of  life.  He  therefore  resigned  himself 
to  death,  and  threw  the  goad  away  ;  no  sooner  had  he  done 
this,  than  the  snake  released  him  from  its  grasp,  and  he  es- 
caped. Tlius,  by  observing  the  precept,  his  life  was  preserved 
from  the  most  imminent  danger. 

A  certain  king  commanded  an  updsaka  to  procure  him  a 
fowl  and  kill  it.  As  he  refused,  the  king  issued  a  decree  that 
he  should  be  taken  to  the  place  of  execution,  where  a  fowl  was 
to  be  put  into  his  hand,  and  if  he  still  refused  to  kill  it,  he  was 
to  be  slain.  The  upasaka,  however,  said  that  he  had  never 
broken  the  precept  that  forbids  the  taking  of  life,  and  that  he 
was  willing  to  give  his  own  life  for  the  life  of  the  fowl.  With 
this  intention  he  threw  the  fowl  away  unhurt.     After  this  he 


APPENDIX.  403 

was  brought  back  to  the  king,  and  released,  as  he  had  been  put 
to  this  test  merely  to  try  the  sincerity  of  his  faith. 

In  the  city  of  Wisala  there  was  a  priest,  who  one  day,  on  go- 
ing with  the  alms-bowl,  sat  down  upon  a  chair  that  was  covered 
with  a  cloth,  by  which  he  killed  a  child  that  was  underneath. 
About  the  same  time  there  was  a  priest  who  received  food 
mixed  with  poison  into  his  alms-bowl,  which  he  gave  to  another 
priest,  not  knowing  that  it  was  poisoned,  and  the  priest  died. 
Both  of  these  priests  went  to  Buddha,  and  in  much  sorrow  in- 
formed him  of  what  had  taken  place.  The  sage  declared,  after 
hearing  their  story,  that  the  priest  who  gave  the  poisoned  food, 
though  it  caused  the  death  of  another  priest,  was  innocent,  be- 
cause he  had  done  it  unwittingly ;  but  that  the  priest  who  sat 
upon  the  chair,  though  it  only  caused  the  death  of  a  child,  was 
guilty,  as  he  had  not  taken  the  proper  precaution  to  look  under 
the  cloth,  and  had  sat  down  without  being  invited  by  the  house- 
holder. 

THEFT. 

"When  anything  is  taken  that  is  not  given  by  the  owner, 
whether  it  be  gold,  silver,  or  any  similar  article,  and  it  be  hid- 
den by  the  person  who  takes  it,  in  the  house,  or  in  the  forest, 
or  in  the  rock,  the  precept  is  broken  that  forbids  the  taking  of 
that  which  is  not  given ;  it  is  theft. 

There  are  five  things  necessary  to  constitute  the  crime  of 
theft:  1.  The  article  that  is  taken  must  belong  to  another. 
2.  There  must  be  some  token  that  it  belongs  to  another.  3. 
There  must  be  the  intention  to  steal.  4.  There  must  be  some 
act  done,  or  effort  exerted,  to  obtain  possession.  5.  There  must 
be  actual  acquirement. 

LYING. 

To  deny  the  possession  of  any  article  in  order  to  retain  it 
is  a  lie,  but  not  of  a  hehious  description  ;  to  bear  false  witness 
in  order  that  the  proper  owner  may  be  deprived  of  that  which 
he  possesses,  is  a  lie  to  which  a  gi-eater  degree  of  culpability  is 
attached.     "When  any  one  declares   that  he  has    not  what  he 


404  APPENDIX. 

has,  or  that  he  has  what  he  has  not,,  whether  it  be  by  the  lips, 
or  by  signs,  or  in  writing,  it  is  a  lie. 

Four  things  are  necessary  to  constitute  a  lie :  1.  There 
must  be  the  utterance  of  the  thing  that  is  not.  2.  There  must 
be  the  knowledge  that  it  is  not.  3.  There  must  be  some  en- 
deavor to  prevent  the  person  addressed  from  learning  the  truth. 
4.  There  must  be  the  discovery  by  the  person  deceived  that 
what  has  been  told  him  is  not  true. 

It  is  said  by  the  Brahmans  that  it  is  not  a  crime  to  tell  a  lie 
on  behalf  of  the  guru,  or  on  account  of  cattle,  or  to  save  the  per- 
son's own  life,  or  to  gain  the  victory  in  any  contest :  but  this  is 
contrary  to  the  precept. 

On  one  occasion  Buddha  said  that  when  a  lie  is  uttered 
knowingly  it  is  parajika,  or  excludes  from  the  priesthood  ;  yet 
on  another  occasion  he  said  that  it  is  a  venial  or  minor  offence. 
It  was  in  this  manner  that  it  occurred.  A  number  of  priests  kejjt 
near  a  river ;  but  as  the  people  were  remiss  in  providing  them 
with  food  and  other  requisites,  they  falsely  gave  out  that  they 
had  entered  the  first  path  and  had  become  rakats,  by  which  means 
they  obtained  abundance  of  all  that  they  wanted.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  ceremony  they  went  to  Buddha,  who,  after  in- 
quiring about  their  welfare,  began  to  reprove  them  and  said, 
"  Foolish  men,  for  the  sake  of  the  belly  you  have  assumed  to 
yourselves  the  glory  of  the  Dharmma,  as  if  you  yourselves  had 
promulgated  it.  Better  would  it  have  been  for  you,  than  to  have 
practiced  this  deception  for  the  sake  of  a  little  food,  to  have  had 
your  intestines  torn  out,  or  to  have  swallowed  molten  metal." 

Note  12.     Buddhist  Ascetics  before  Christ. 

Extracts  from  "The  Toy  Cart,"  a  Sanskrit  Drama.  Translated  into  Eng- 
lish in  Wilson's  "  Hindu  Drama." 

[These  extracts  show  :  — 

1.  That  Buddhism  existed  in  India  together  with  Brahman- 
ism,  and  tolerated  by  it,  at  least  one  hundred  years  before 
Christ. 


APPEN^DIX.  405 

2.  That  Budclhism  in  those  days  as  now  (1)  set  aside  caste, 
(2)  laid  stress  on  moral  conduct,  (3)  made  its  priests  take  the 
vows  of  poverty,  celibacy,  and  monastic  life ;  that  they  were 
mendicants  ;  must  not  touch  women. 

3.  That  the  King  or  Rajah  of  the  Province  appointed  the 
heads  of  the  Buddhist  monasteries,  so  that  Buddhism  was  a  part 
of  the  established  religion  of  India.] 

ACT  VIII. 

Enter  the  Sramanka,  or  Bauddha  mendicant^  with  a  icet  garment  in 

his  hand. 

Sramanka  (sings). 

Be  virtue,  friends,  your  only  store, 

And  restless  appetite  restrain, 

Beat  meditation's  drum,  and  sore 

Your  watch  against  each  sense  maintain  ; 

The  thief  that  still  in  ambush  lies, 

To  make  devotion's  wealtli  his  prize. 

Cast  the  five  senses  all  away 

That  triumph  o'er  the  virtuous  will, 

The  pride  of  self-importance  slay, 

And  ignorance  remorseless  kill ; 

So  shall  you  safe  the  body  guard. 

And  Heaven  shall  be  your  last  reward. 

Why  shave  the  head  and  mow  the  chin 
Whilst  bristling  follies  choke  the  breast? 
Apply  the  knife  to  parts  within 
And  heed  not  how  deformed  the  rest. 
The  heart  of  pride  and  passion  weed. 
And  then  the  man  is  pure  indeed. 

My  cloth  is  heavy  with  the  yet  moist  dye.  I  will  enter  this  gar- 
den belonging  to  the  Rdjfi's  brother-in-law,  and  wash  it  in  the  pool, 
and  then  I  shall  proceed  more  lightly.     (^Does  so.) 


406  APPENDIX. 

(^Behind.)  What  ho  !  you  rascally  Sramanka,  what  are  you  do- 
ing there? 

Sram.  Alas,  alas!  here  he  is,  Samsthanaka  himself.  He  has 
been  affronted  by  one  mendicant,  and  whenever  he  meets  another  he 
sends  him  off  with  his  nose  slit  like  an  ox.  Where  shall  I  fly  to? 
The  lord  Buddha  be  my  refuge! 


Vii.  In  that  case  I  suspect  he  will  not  have  long  followed  the 
profession. 

Sams.     How  so? 

Vit.  Observe  :  his  head  shines  as  if  it  had  only  been  lately 
shaven  ;  and  his  garment  has  been  so  little  worn  that  there  are  no 
scars  on  his  shoulder.  The  ochry  dye  has  not  yet  fully  stained  the 
cloth,  and  the  open  web  yet  fresh  and  flaccid  hangs  loosely  over  his 
arms. 

Sram.  I  do  not  deny  it,  worthy  sir;  it  is  true  I  have  but  lately 
adopted  the  profession  of  a  beggar. 

Sams.  And  why  so ;  why  did  you  not  become  a  beggar  as  soon  as 
you  were  born,  you  scoundrel?     (^Beats  him.) 

Sram.     Glory  to  Buddha! 

Sa?ns.  He  shall  neither  go,  nor  stay,  nor  move,  nor  breathe.  Let 
him  fall  down  and  be  put  to  death. 

Sram.     Glory  to  Buddha!     Mercy,  mercy! 


Enter  the  Sramanka  as  mendicant,  as  before. 

I  have  washed  my  mantle,  and  will  hang  it  on  these  boughs  to 
dry.  No,  here  are  a  number  of  monkeys.  I  '11  spread  it  on  the 
ground.  No,  there  is  too  much  dust.  Ha  !  yonder  the  wind  has  blown 
together  a  pile  of  dry  leaves,  that  will  answer  exactly;  I'll  spread 
it  upon  them.  (^Spreads  his  lorapper  over  Vasantasend  and  sits  doivn.) 
Glory  to  Buddha!  (Repeats  the  moral  stanzas  as  above.)  But  enough 
of  this.  I  covet  not  the  other  world  until  in  this  I  may  make 
some  return  for  the  lady  Vasantasdnd's  charity.  On  the  day  that 
she  liberated  me  from  the  gamester's  clutches  she  made  me  her 
slave  forever.  Holloa!  something  sighed  amidst  yon  leaves  !  or  per- 
haps it  was  only  their  crackling,  scorched  by  the  sun,  and  moistened 
by  my  damp  garment.  Bless  me,  they  spread  out  like  the  wings 
of  a  bird.     (One  of  Vasantasend' s  hands  appears.)    A  woman's  hand, 


APPENDIX.  407 

as  I  live,  with  ric-h  ornaments, — and  another;  surely  I  have  seen 
that  hand  before.  It  is,  it  is  —  it  is  the  hand  that  once  was  stretched 
forth  to  save  me.  What  should  this  mean  1  {Throws  off  the  wrapper 
and  leaves,  and  sees  Vasanlanend.)  It  is  the  lady  Vasantasend,  the 
devoted  worshiper  of  Buddha.  (Vasantasend  expresses  I >j  signs  the 
want  of  water.)  She  wants  water  :  the  pool  is  far  away,  what's  to 
be  done?  Ha!  my  wet  garment.  (Applies  il  to  her  face  and  mouth 
and  fans  her.) 

Vas.  (reviving.)     Thanks,  thanks,  my  friend.    Who  art  thou? 

Sram.  Do  you  not  recollect  me,  lady  ?  You  once  redeemed  me 
with  ten  suvernas. 

Vas.  I  remember  you ;  aught  else  I  have  forgotten.  I  have  suf- 
fered since. 

Sram,     How,  lady? 

Vas.     As  my  fate  deserved. 

Sram.  Rise,  lady,  rise  ;  drag  yourself  to  this  tree:  here,  hold  by 
this  creeper.  (Bends  it  down  to  her,  she  lays  hold  of  it  and  rises.)  In 
a  neighboring  convent  dwells  a  holy  sister  ;  rest  awhile  with  her, 
lady,  and  recover  your  spirits.  Gently,  lady,  gently.  (They  proceed.) 
Stand  aside,  good  friends,  stand  aside,  make  way  for  a  young  female 
and  a  poor  beggar!  It  is  my  duty  to  restrain  the  hands  and  mouth, 
and  keep  the  passions  in  subjection.  What  should  such  a  man  care 
for  kingdoms?    His  is  the  woi-ld  to  come. 

Enter  the  Sramanka  and  Vasantas:^xa. 

Sram.  Bless  me,  what  shall  I  do?  Thus  leading  Vasantasend, 
am  I  acting  conformably  to  the  laws  of  my  order?  Lady,  whither 
shall  I  conduct  you? 

Vas.     To  the  house  of  Charudatta,  my  good  friend. 

Sram.  Quick,  lady !  Worthy  servant  of  Buddha,  hasten  to  save 
Charudatta!     Room,  good  friends,  make  way! 

Char.     And  who  is  this? 

Vas.      To  him  I  owe  my  life ; 

His  seasonable  aid  preserved  me. 

Char.     Who  art  thou,  friend  ? 

Sram.  Your  Honor  does  not  recollect  me.  I  was  employed  as  your 
personal  servant.  Afterwards  becoming  connected  with  gamblers,  and 
unfortunate,  I  should  have  been  reduced  to  slavery,  had  not  this  lady 


408  APPENDIX. 

redeemed  me.     I  have  since  then  adopted  the  life  of  a  mendicant  • 
and  coming  in  my  wanderings  to  the  Raja's  garden,  was  fortunately 
enabled  to  assist  my  former  benefactress. 
Sei:     Lady  Vasantasena,  with  your  worth 

The  King  is  well  acquainted,  and  requests 
To  hold  you  as  his  kinswoman. 
Vas.     Sir,  I  am  grateful.    (^Servillaka  throws  a  veil  over  her.) 
Ser.     AVhat  shall  we  do  for  this  good  mendicant? 
Char.     Speak,  Sramanaka,  your  wishes.  , 

Sram.     To  follow  still  the  path  I  have  selected, 
For  all  I  see  is  full  of  care  and  change. 
Char.     Since  such  is  his  resolve,  let  him  be  made 
Chief  of  the  monasteries  of  the  Buddhas. 
Ser.     It  shall  be  so. 


INDEX 

OF  SUBJECTS  TREATED  IN  THIS  WORK. 


Accretions,  adventitious  in  all  religions,  01. 
Adaptation  shows  design,  215. 
Adi-Buddha,   supreme  being  in  Buddhist 

theology,  127. 
Affirmations  usually  true.    Negations  false, 

62. 
Africa,  races  of,  their  good  qualities,  292. 
Algonquin  Indians,  their  prayers,  225. 
Anaxagoras,  his  view  Ditheistic,  135. 
Andaman  islands,  religion  of,  18. 
Angels    and   Archangels,   in   Christianity, 

121  ;  in  the  Ethnic  religions,  108. 
Animals    and    man,   distinction    between, 

188. 
Animals,  their  human  qualities,  185. 
Animism,  in  all  religions,   108  ;    the  first 

step  of  belief,  87,  107. 
Anquetil  du  Perron  discovers  the  Zend- 
Avesta,  41. 
Apparitions,  universal  belief  in,  1G3. 
Aristides,  and  other  Greelis,  their  virtues, 

297. 
Aristotle,   a  theist,  145 ;  his  idea  of    the 

soul,  173. 
Art,  the  cliild  of  religion,  2G5. 
Aryan  race,  how  discovered,  42. 
Aryans,  their  history,  43. 
AssjTian  prayers,  234. 
Assyrian  theory  of  creation,  210. 
Aztec  religion  combined  a  base  moral  code 

with  bloody  sacrifices,  99. 
Aztec  worship  described,  98. 

Basilfdes,  the  Gnostic,  208. 
Beal,  "Romantic  History  of  Buddlia,"  171. 
Beka,  tablet  of,  310. 

Belief  in  Grod  leads  to  belief  in  a  hereafter, 
339. 


Bible,  its  inspiration,  259. 

Blanco  White's  sonnet  on  the  futiu'e  life, 
344. 

Brahmanism,  its  essential  idea,  51  ;  true  in 
its  assertions,  false  iu  its  denials,  C3. 

Brahmans,  their  view  of  the  future  life, 
330. 

Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva,  in  India,  91. 

Brinton,  on  the  gods  of  Central  America, 
149 ;  .quoted,  122  ;  on  the  belief  of  the 
Indians  in  immortality,  320. 

Buckle's  view  of  morality,  284. 

Buddliism  and  Christianity,  their  resem- 
blance and  difference,  73. 

Buddhism,  essential  idea  of,  59,  in  what 
sense  it  denies  the  existence  of  the  soul, 
1G8 ;  its  ethics,  305  ;  true  in  its  asser- 
tions, false  in  its  denials,  04. 

Buddhist  architecture,  208  ;  prayers,  23G  ; 
Trmity,  130. 

Bushmen,  their  religion,  18. 

Carlyle,  on  great  men,  372. 
Catholic  religions  come  abruptly,  71. 
Cato  the  younger,  described  by  Plutarch, 

290. 
Causation,  belief  in,  natural  to  man,  157. 
Chaos,  before  all  things,  iu  many  systems, 

194. 
Charity  and  veracity  in  ancient  Egj-pt,  311. 
Childlike  races   have  the    same   religion, 

86. 
China,  ancient,  its  monotheism,  158. 
Chinese  Trinity,  135. 
Cliristiauity,    an    intellectually  hospitable 

religion,  08  ;  its  essence,  352  ;  the  chief 

among  the   Catliolic  religions,  359  ;  the 

religion  of  civilized  man,  353. 


410 


INDEX. 


Christian  monotheism,  160  ;  civilization 
still  full  of  power,  355  ;  nations  progres- 
sive, ooi ;  Trinity,  a  formula  to  express 
the  communion  of  God  with  his  creation, 
121. 

Chunder  Sen,  his  doctrine,  53. 

Church  of  Humanity,  its  basis,  3G6. 

Clarke,  Dr.  E.  H.,  his  experience,  321. 

Cleanthes,  his  hymn,  14G. 

Comparative  Theology,  what  for,  2. 

Conception  of  Deity,  what  is  contained  in 
the  idea,  100,  107. 

Confession,  negative  of  the  Egyptian,  327. 

Consciousness,  facts  of,  to  be  scientifically 
studied,  5 ;  of  personality,  as  source  of 
belief  in  continued  existence,  330. 

Corruptions,  of  all  religions,  CI ;  of  Chris- 
tianity, their  source,  363. 

Cosmos,  origin  of,  103. 

Creation,  by  a  hierarchy  of  spiritual  beings, 
218  ;  of  the  world,  in  different  systems, 
209  ;  origin  of  the  belief  in,  158. 

Creed,  Ritual,  or  Prophet,  as  the  basis  of 
the  universal  religion,  3G7. 

Darwin,  and  natural  selection,  213  ;  on  the 

people  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  18. 
Decay  of  the  Egyptian  religion,  94. 
Decay  of  religions  —  Brahmanism,  93. 
Degradations  of  religion,  61. 
Demigods,  Spirits,  Demons,  etc.,  between 

God  and  man,  113. 
Demoniacal  possession  and  exorcism,  83. 
Development  of  each  religion,  its  law,  35. 
Dhammapada,  ethical  work  of  Buddhism, 

306. 
Discoveries  all  made  in  Christendom,  356. 
Ditheism,  in  all  Religions,  130. 
Ditheism,  its  origin,  106. 
Double  consciousness,  examples  of,  166. 
Dread  of  ancestral  spirits,  322. 
Dreams,  belief  of  primitive  races,  SO. 
Druids,  their  view  of  a  future  life,  323. 
Duplicate  souls,  theory  concerning,  165. 

Eaeth,  regarded  as  the  Mother,  89. 
Eddas,  the,  on  Chaos  and  Creation,  201. 
Egypt,  ancient  ethics  of,  308 ;  religion  of, 

1100  B.  C,  6. 
Egyptian  desci'iption  of    the  journeys  of 

the  soul  after  death,  32G ;  Monotheism, 

152 ;    Religion,   its    essential  Idea,   56 ; 

Trinity,  136. 


Emanation,  doctrine  of,  204  ;  in  the  Vedao, 
205. 

Esquimaux,  their  view  of  a  future  life,  323. 

Ethics,  in  all  religions,  280  ;  its  basis  im- 
mutable, 285. 

Ethnic  religions  come  by  a  gradual  pro- 
cess, 71. 

Ethnic  or  Race  religions  described,  27. 

Etruscans,  their  view  of  a  future  life,  324. 

Euthydemus  and  Socrates,  302. 

Evolution,  doctrine  of,  applied  to  the  soul, 
190  ;  very  ancient,  196 ;  in  the  Orphic 
writings,  in  Brahmanism,  in  the  Greek 
theology,  etc.,  197. 

Fetiches,  among  Christians,  110. 

Fetich-worship,  its  origin,  109  ;  not  Mate- 
rialism, 16. 

Final  causes,  their  importance  in  thought, 
212. 

Future  Life,  imiversally  believed,  319. 

Future  State,  idea  of,  m  all  religions,  318. 

Garland  of  a  hundred  names,  54. 
German  pliilosophy  of  creation,  211. 
Ghosts,   belief  in,  the  lowest  form  of  re- 
ligion, 78  ;  fear  of,  explained,  81  ;  origin 

of  belief  in,  79. 
Gnosticism,  meaning  of,  206. 
Gnostic  tlieories  of  emanation,  206. 
God  as  Creator,  as  Supreme  Being,  as  the 

Infinite  Being,  101,  102,  103. 
God  as  Providence,  Justice,  Holiness,  103, 

104. 
Good  and  Evil,  their  opposition  the  spurce 

of  Ditheism,  133. 
Government,  by  law,  only  in  Christendom, 

357. 
Greece,  religion  of,  430  B.  C,  9. 
Greek  belief  in  a  future  life,  333. 
Greek  painting,  development  like  that  of 

Italy,  277  ;  temples,  their  character,  270. 
Guatemala  Indians,  on  Creation,  200. 

Hardy,  Spence,  on  Buddliism  of  Ceylon, 
128. 

Hebrew  and  Egyptian  religions,  their  re- 
semblance and  ditference,  73. 

Hedge,  Dr.  F.  H.,  Fetich-worship,  16. 

Hellenic  development  and  relapse  very 
rapid,  65. 

Hereafter,  views  concerning  the,  323. 

Hildebert,  his  hymn,  147. 


INDEX. 


411 


Hindu  Monotheism,  142. 

Hohues,  Dr.  O.  W.,  narration,  321. 

Hottentots,  their  religion,  18. 

Human  traits  in  primitive  organizations, 

187. 
Hymn  to  Amun,  as  Supreme  God,  154. 

Idea  of  God,   analysis  of,  101 ;  complex, 
not  simple,  101. 

Idolatry,  its  origin.  111,  240  ;  comes  from 
a  degenerate  Polytheism,  92.      • 

Idols,  good  or  bad,  as  used  or  abused,  112. 

Immortality,  belief  m,  arising  from  relig- 
ious faith,  3o5. 

Imprecation.s,  in  the  Old  Testament,  244. 

Imprecatory  prayer,  244. 

Increased  knowledge  of  Ethnic  religions, 
39. 

Indians  of  America,  their  belief  in  a  future 
life,  319. 

India,  rehgion  of,  1100  B.  C,  8. 

Inspiration  and  Intuition,  252. 

Inspiration,  classification  of  different  kinds ; 
250;  different  in  kind  and  degree,  253; 
In  general,  251 ;  in  all  religions,  254  ;  in 
primitive  religions,  257  ;  of  Paul,  2(12. 

Inspirations,  comparison  of  them,  204. 

Islam,  a  reaction  against  Judaism  and 
Christianity,  74  ;  its  narrowness,  G8. 

Java,  Buddliist  temple  in,  2G8. 
Jesus  opposed  to  routine  prayer,  242. 
Jewish  belief  in  a  future  life,  334. 
Jewish  psalter  a  Christian  prayer  book,  242. 
Jewish  Temple,  its  character,  271. 
Jones,  Sir  William,  liis  discoveries,  41. 
Judaism,  Mohammedanism,  and  Christian- 
ity the  three  Catholic  religions,  3U0. 

Karma,  law  of,  in  Buddhism,  170. 
Karnak,  temple  of,  207. 
Koran,  its  inspiration,  200. 

Lapps,  their  religion,  19. 

Legends  concerning  the  souls  crossing  a 

bridge,  321. 
Life,  fullness  of,  in  Christianity,  301. 
LiUie,    Arthur,    defends    Buddliism    from 

the  charge  of  Atheism,  120. 
Linguistic  studies,  progress  of,  40. 
Liturgy,  none  in  New  Testament,  242. 
Livingstone's  testimony  to  the  Africans, 

293. 


Love,  an  evidence  of  immortality,  340. 

Lowest  races  of  men,  according  to  Waitz, 
Peschel,  Darwin,  Lubbock,  and  others, 
17  ;  not  devoid  of  religion  (note),  18. 

Luther,  Martin,  his  intlueuce  on  national 
life,  371. 

Man,  as  a  creator,  219. 
Manly  and  womanly  virtues,  288. 
Manu,  Laws  of,  on  ethics,  330. 
Materialism,  its  objections  to  a  future  life, 
338  ;  its  objections  to  the  existence  of  the 
soul,  173. 
Mexican  religion,  a  degenerate  faith,  90  ; 

described,  97. 
Milton's  belief  in  angels,  109. 
Mohammedan  Art,  272. 
Mohammedanism,  Pantheism  m,  119. 
Monasticisni,  in  Christianity,  305 ;  not  in- 
stituted by  Jesus,  300. 
Monotheism,  as  part  of  our  conception  of 
Deity,  105 ;  imperfect,  of  the  Buddhists, 
126  ;  in  all  religions,   141  ;   in  Mexico, 
123  ;  in  Peru,  122 ;  in  primitive  religions, 
148  ;  in  the  lower  races,  122. 
Monotony,  Variety,  aud  Harmony,  the  three 

steps  of  social  progress,  38. 
Morality,  development  of,  316  ;  its  analysis, 

282. 
Moral  excellence  in  many  primitive  races, 
291  ;   impulse  developed  into  character 
in  the  Ethnic  peoples,  294  ;  influence  of 
Brahmanism,   315  ;     of    Moses    and  the 
Prophets,  315  ;    sentiment,  moral  ideas 
and  moral  power,  281  ;  teaching  of  New 
Testament,  317  ;  tendencies  of  different 
races,  287  ;   qualities,  little  in  the  Gods 
of  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  113. 
Morly  on  Final  Causes,  214. 
Moses,  teaches  no  doctrine  of  future  retri- 
bution, 314. 

New  Platomsts,  their  theism,  14G. 
New  Testament,  its  inspiration,  262. 
Nirvina,  among  the  Buddhists,  332. 

OsiRis-souL,  its  progress,  329. 

Pantheism,  and  the  apostle  Paul,  126 ;  in 
all  religions,  110  ;  in  India,  China,  Greece, 
118 ;  opposite  pole  of  thought  to  Atheism, 
117  ;  truth  in,  124. 


412 


INDEX. 


Paul's  doctrine  of  the  Universality  of  Re- 
ligion, 23. 

Persecutions  in  Christendom,  365. 

Persia,  religion  of,  430  B.  C,  11. 

Personality  of  God,  247  ;  of  Jesus,  368. 

Peruvian  view  of  a  future  life,  323. 

Philology,  Comparative,  its  progress,  42. 

Phocion,  his  character  and  virtues,  279. 

Plato,  his  Monotheism,  144. 

Poetry,  religious,  278. 

Poets  and  philosophers,  on  the  future  life, 
336. 

Police  regulations  of  ancient  Egypt,  328. 

Polynesian  account  of  creation,  202. 

Polytheisms,  in  all  religions,  112. 

Polytheism,  sees  spirit  in  all  things,  90  ; 
the  second  step  of  beUef ,  88  ;  the  truth 
in,  119. 

Prayer,  among  the  Greeks,  232  ;  highest 
form  of,  248 ;  in  Ethnic  religions,  228  ; 
in  primitive  religions,  224  ;  objections 
to,  246 ;  universality  of,  222,  249 ;  value 
of  among  the  tribal  races,  227. 

Prayers,  in  China,  231 ;  in  the  Zend-Avesta, 
235  ;  of  Delaware  Indians,  226 ;  Mexican, 
234 ;  Mohammedan,  237  ;  of  Seneca  and 
Epiotetus,  233  ;  of  the  Papuans,  225. 

Preexistence  of  the  soul  generally  believed, 
177. 

Primitive  race,  contradictory  descriptions, 

291  ;  their  morality,  289. 
Ptahhotep,  Proverbs  of,  312. 

Pyramids,  expression  of  religious  faith,  265. 

Pythagoras  and  Plato,  on  hostile  principles, 

135. 
Pythagoras,  his  Monad,  144. 

QnATREFAGEs,  people  of  Andaman  islands, 
18. 

Race,  persistence  of,  47. 

Religion,  definition  of,  17  ;  its  influence  on 
morality,  314 ;  future,  of  mankind,  340  ; 
of  childlike  races  not  differentiated,  80 ; 
man's  need  of,  347. 

Religions,  Catliolic  and  Missionary,  de- 
scribed, 28 ;  classification  into  Tribal, 
Ethnic,  and  Catholic,  26. 

Religious  beliefs,  false  classification,  24 ; 
world,  aspect  of,  1100  B.  C,  5. 

Renaissance,  its  meaning,  40. 

Repetitions  in  prayer,  242. 

Ritualism,  in  the  Christian  church,  245. 


Romans,  their  belief  in  a  future  life,  333 ; 
their  virtues,  295. 

Rome,  religion  of,  multitude  of  Gods,  115. 

Roskoff,  religion  of  the  lowest  races  re- 
ferred to,  17. 

Sacrifices,    disappeared    in    Christianity, 

245';  their  origin  and  meaning,  239. 
Sankya  philosophy,  agnostic,  142. 
Savages,  why  said  to  have  no  religion,  20. 
Scientific  study  of  religion,  what  it  is,  4. 
Sculpture,  Greek,  its  religious  quality,  274. 
Sentiment  of  right  a  primitive  element, 

282. 
Simplistic  systems  usually  short-lived,  64. 
Socrates,   liis  belief  in  the  soul,  173  ;  his 

moral  character,  301. 
Sorcery    and    exorcism    in    the  Christian 

church,  84,  85,  86. 
Soul,  the  belief  in,  universal,  162. 
Spencer,    Herbert,   on  creation,   211 ;    his 

theory  of  dreams,  77. 
Spiritual  Evolution,  doctrine  of,  220. 
Spiritualism,  its  extent,  342. 
Statistics  of  religions  of  the  world,  21. 
Statues,  Greek,  the  highest  expression  of 

Greek  religion,  275. 
Stoics,  their  belief  in  the  soul,  173 ;  their 

ethics,  305. 

Tasmanians,  their  religion,  19. 

Tennyson,  on  Transmigration  of  the  Soul, 

191. 
Terra  del  Fuego,  religion  of,  IS. 
Theism  in  ancient  Greece,  144. 
Themistocles  and  Aristides,  298. 
Theories  of  the  origin  of  things,  194. 
Tliree  elements  in  every  moral  action,  281. 
Tombs  of  the  Etruscans,  325. 
Transmigration,  basis  of  the  belief,  185 ;  in 

Brahmanism,  178  ;  in  Buddhism,  182  ;  in 

Egypt,  179  ;  of  the  soul,  believed  in  past 

times,  170. 
Triad,  in  all   religions,    135 ;  in  system   of 

Zoroaster,  138  ;   Gnostic,     139  ;    Greek, 

136  ;  Hindu,  135 ;  Orphic,  137. 
Triads,  origin  of  belief  in,  140. 
Trinity,   Christian,  its  origin,  49,  138  ;  of 

Philo,  138. 
Two  groups  of  moral  virtues,  286. 
Tylor,  Edward  B.,  on  primitive  religion; 

17  ;  on  religion  of  lowest  races,  18,  21  ; 

ou  prayer  among  primitive  races,  228. 


INDEX. 


413 


Type,  persistence  of,  in  each  religion,  44. 

United  States,  religious  statistics  of,  22. 
Universal  belief  in  a  future  state,  318. 
Universality  of  religion,  17. 
Utility,  its  place  in  a  moral  system,  2SG. 

Valentine,  a  Gnostic,  his  system,  208. 

Vedauta  philosophy,  Pantheistic,  143. 

Vedas,  prayers  in  the,  229  ;  their  inspira- 
tion, 259. 

Vedic  Hymns,  addressed  to  Nature,  113 ; 
monotheism,  151. 


Waitz,   on  primitive  religion,  17  ;  on  the 

religion  of  the  Africans,  148. 
Wordswortli,  his  religious  tendency,  125. 
World,  tlie,  a  house  of  Prayer,  249. 

Xenophanes,  his  monotheism,  144. 

Zoroaster,  teaches  a  moral  law,  91 ;  essen- 
tial idea  in  his  system,  58 ;  liis  religion 
arrested  in  its  second  stage,  132,  134. 

Zulus,  their  prayers,  224. 


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